Sitting MLA with local ties “very ill”: Premier Eby

A former N-D-P candidate who ran unsuccessfully against M.P. Dan Albas in two federal elections and now sits in the BC Legislature for a Vancouver riding is reported “very ill.”

Premier David Eby, said that Joan Philip who now represents the  Vancouver-Strathcona riding, is undergoing tests, though he did not elaborate on her illness.

Philip ran federally for the N-D-P in the former seat that was known as Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola during the 2019 and 2021 election and lost to the incumbent Conservative Dan Albas, placing third in 2019 and second in 2021.

She was elected to the provincial legislature in 2023 when a byelection was held in the Vancouver-Mount Pleasant to replace Melanie Mark.  She was re-elected in the 2024 B.C. election in the riding now known as Vancouver-Strathcona.

Premier David Eby says all political parties wish Philip a speedy recovery.

The seat held by Philip is very important to the fragile N-D-P government, who hold a slim one seat majority in the provincial legislature.