It鈥檚 taken time and a young family for David Eby to get his personal priorities aligned with an unrelenting job
Before the briefings on transnational money laundering begin each morning, before the updates on auto insurance crash rates, the flurry of cabinet meetings, ministerial orders, phone calls and decision notes, there is only calm for David Eby. One breath in. Another out. Silence and focus. Slow and measured movement.
sa国际传媒鈥檚 attorney general starts most days on a yoga mat in a stiflingly hot studio. It鈥檚 a remarkable sight 鈥� partly because Eby鈥檚 dry and stodgy work demeanour doesn鈥檛 quite match up with the guy enthusiastically doing the warrior pose, but also because it鈥檚 simply impressive to see a six-foot-seven man contort his body into all sorts of difficult yoga positions.
The morning routine is a mental and physical reprieve for one of the busiest politicians in the province.
鈥淭o have something in my life that is not conflict-oriented 鈥� has turned out to be very important,鈥� said Eby. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an hour where you can鈥檛 think about all the things you have to do. I鈥檓 a better person with yoga.鈥�
It鈥檚 also part of a personal transformation that鈥檚 been slowly building in Eby for years.
The hard-line activist, protester, low-income Vancouver housing advocate, civil rights lawyer and noted workaholic is mellowing out a bit at the age of 43.
He鈥檚 not the same man who almost ran for the leader of the sa国际传媒 NDP five years ago.
And that鈥檚 an interesting development for a politician many have pegged as the successor-in-waiting to NDP Premier John Horgan.
Most people know Eby for the high-profile jobs he鈥檚 tackled: reforming auto insurance rates at the Insurance Corp. of sa国际传媒, launching a public inquiry into money laundering, identifying real estate loopholes exploited by foreign investors in Metro Vancouver鈥檚 housing market, crafting the NDP鈥檚 legal challenge against the Trans Mountain pipeline, and banning union and corporate donations to end cash-for-access political fundraising.
Along the way he鈥檚 earned a reputation, even among critics, as a politician who works relentlessly long hours, stays on top of all the latest research and briefings, and maintains a high media profile.
His friends and family say that reputation is still valid.
But they also point out: Eby has quietly rebalanced his life. And his career ambitions.
Family comes first
The reason why is inside Eby鈥檚 three-bedroom rental apartment at the University of sa国际传媒 His wife, Cailey, is feeding a bottle to his two-week-old daughter Iva, before Eby takes over burping duties. Their five-year-old son, Ezra, is bouncing around the room, searching for his swim trunks so dad can take him to the pool.
During a rare quiet moment, Eby remarks on the impact of fatherhood on his life.
鈥淚t was transformative, really, because I have always loved my work a lot,鈥� he said.
鈥淎ll the way through since becoming a lawyer, and I don鈥檛 mind working a lot of my jobs, and I get satisfaction from that. But now there鈥檚 this counter draw, to be at home, and to be hanging out with my son and now Iva.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not hard to leave the work behind. And that鈥檚 what surprised me about it. It鈥檚 almost the opposite 鈥� it鈥檚 hard to go back to work. It鈥檚 been a big shift. But a healthy shift.鈥�
Eby admits his obsession with work led him to crash a decade ago while working at the Pivot Legal Society, helping low-income and homeless residents fight illegal housing evictions. It didn鈥檛 get any better as executive director of the sa国际传媒 Civil Liberties Association, where he clashed with government and police.
鈥淚 totally burnt out,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 worked crazy hours for almost no money and tragic stories.
鈥淎nd I didn鈥檛 recognize the need to have any kind of balance, because I saw that if I didn鈥檛 help person X that nobody else would. But it wasn鈥檛 that they didn鈥檛 want to; everybody was working at capacity.
鈥淎nd so I just burnt myself out, got divorced, didn鈥檛 have a particularly healthy lifestyle, and really hit bottom. And so it took a while to build it back.鈥�
What has emerged in the last five years or so is a newer, mellower David Eby. He鈥檚 now a baby-swaddling, diaper-changing, toddler-chasing fish-etarian who spends weekends at the municipal pool tossing his son around, who is an expert at building pillow forts, who cracks dad jokes and watches standup comedy on Netflix, and who is as well versed in Paw Patrol as he is in transnational organized crime.
That this transformation has occurred during the busiest time of his professional career is also not an accident.
For one of the first times in his life, Eby has simply chosen something other than work.
A big step to balance was putting his phone away.
You might imagine one of sa国际传媒鈥檚 most senior cabinet ministers, who is constantly in the media, to be tied to his electronics. But his wife Cailey, as well as his friends, say Eby makes a particular point of rarely checking his work devices while at home.
All of his ministerial work is stored in a small cardboard box stuffed under the kitchen table on a floor scattered with Ezra鈥檚 Lego pieces and Pok茅mon cards.
In the apartment, you鈥檒l find almost no visible signs that this is the home of the sitting attorney general. The walls are filled with unique art and personal mementoes, not framed degrees and political literature.
Four electric guitars hang in an alcove off the kitchen that Eby jokingly refers to as the 鈥渕useum.鈥� There are photos of a shaggy-haired younger Eby when he played and sang vocals in several electro-indie rock bands, including Ladner and World of Science. He hasn鈥檛 played since he became the MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey in 2013.
鈥淵ou can tell there鈥檚 still that part of Dave that has career ambition and fire for his career, but it鈥檚 a total switch he turns off now,鈥� said Chris Payne, a friend who met Eby while their kids were at daycare and whose families now hang out almost every weekend.
鈥淧art of his career is having his family. He鈥檚 really embraced that side.
鈥淲henever we are hanging out or with the kids he is intensely focused on what the kids are doing or a group. I never get the sense he鈥檚 being pulled back to work or yearning to go back there to work.鈥�
The balance is even more impressive, considering Premier聽John Horgan admits Eby is unrelenting in his work assignments.
鈥淚n reality, I rely on David,鈥� said Horgan. 鈥淗e鈥檚 very well briefed. I know that if I ask him for something it comes very quickly.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 his biggest strength. He鈥檚 a workhorse. I can pile on tough files and he just keeps working, with a really good sense of humour and a sense of self-deprecation that I聽find quite endearing.鈥�
In the spotlight
Many of Eby鈥檚 reforms have become major success stories for the early days of the sa国际传媒 NDP government.
He鈥檚 also had missteps. Eby set the rules for the government鈥檚 proportional representation referendum 鈥� a key part of the Green-NDP confidence deal 鈥� that were so complicated they were widely criticized by all sides. The referendum, which Horgan had supported, failed.
Eby鈥檚 cap on minor injury claims at ICBC may have extinguished what he infamously called the financial 鈥渄umpster fire鈥� at the Crown auto corporation, but his overhaul of risk ratings has also caused insurance rates to jump for young drivers, families and even adults with relatively clean records.
He also faces challenges within his riding of Vancouver-Point Grey. The NDP government鈥檚 decision to place an additional school tax of 0.2 per cent on homes worth more than $3 million led to protests outside Eby鈥檚 constituency office from angry residents in the more affluent Point Grey portion of his riding. It will likely make a difficult riding for Eby even tougher to win in the next election.
The Opposition Liberals portray Eby as a radical activist.
鈥淚 think David Eby loves to get into the headlines and he鈥檒l do anything to get there,鈥� said Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson, who is also a lawyer.
鈥淗aving practised law for 25 years and been in the courts for hundreds upon hundreds of trial days, I can tell you David Eby鈥檚 reputation at the trial bar is he鈥檚 a flamboyant politician and not much of a lawyer.鈥�
Other critics see an evolution.
鈥淚 think he鈥檚 stepped up and done a good job,鈥� said Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, who was president of the Vancouver Police Union during Eby鈥檚 civil liberties days when many police officers viewed his criticism as unfair.
鈥淪ome of the attributes that probably drove me crazy when he was working for BCCLA or Pivot are things that serve him well in his current role.鈥�
Eby鈥檚 growing political influence extends across virtually every ministry in government.
鈥淚n cabinet there are three chairs taken, mine at the end of the table, the minister of finance at one side and the attorney general at the other 鈥� and then everyone else just takes their seats wherever they can find them,鈥� said Horgan.
Yet Horgan has also seen the maturation of his attorney general.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not to say David doesn鈥檛 have a bright future in the NDP, but he also has new interests that didn鈥檛 exist,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecoming a dad changed my world. I think all of those things are coming together to shape and well-round David.鈥�
At the legislature, Eby鈥檚 lawyerly tendency toward arcane debates can sometimes make him the legislative equivalent of a sleep aid.
But outside of work he is, surprisingly, a bit of a goofball.
At a recent dinner with three other families at a brew pub near his apartment, Eby finished his food early and gathered up the four children to play while the other adults relaxed.
Outside, the attorney general, minister of the Crown, Queen鈥檚 Counsel, and keeper of the Great Seal of British Columbia, transformed into 鈥淯ncle Dave鈥� with his 鈥渕onster hands,鈥� chasing the whooping children around a courtyard, lurching like a giant scarecrow zombie until one of the shrieking five-year-old girls took a header into a fountain pool. She suffered catastrophic injuries to her knee: the skin was almost broken.
Earlier, Eby executed a lengthy dim sum lunch with five adults and five toddlers 鈥� a feat of enormous balance and precision that required him to strategically deploy toy cars, stacks of paper and a lunch box full of felt pens amid an explosion of wayward noodles, dropped shrimp balls and half-eaten dumplings.
At one point, the conversation turned to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the table was momentarily stumped as to the name of the cartoon series鈥� main antagonist. 鈥淪plinter is the good guy,鈥� Eby told them all, as he patiently explained the origins of the mutant rat turned ninjutsu instructor like he would ICBC鈥檚 new insurance rate model. 鈥淪hredder is the bad guy.鈥�
On a morning in mid-September, five-year-old Ezra donned a T-shirt with a picture of a robot, and while walking to kindergarten casually informed his father that he had invisible laser beams for eyes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a secret 鈥� Ez is a robot from the robot factory,鈥� Eby said as he helped push his son on his bike. Ezra kept yelling 鈥淪hoom!鈥� as his laser beams cut down the trees along his bike path, transforming the peaceful woods into a post-apocalyptic wasteland of robot destruction. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure what the park board will think of that,鈥� Eby said.
Dressed in his work suit, the attorney general would occasionally leap off the trail and into the bush to avoid his son鈥檚 devastating invisible beams while pleading for Ezra to be careful where he pointed his eyes for the sake of humanity鈥檚 safety.
Eby dropped his son off at kindergarten, resisted the urge to peek into the classroom window, gathered up Ezra鈥檚 extra bike helmet, walked a few blocks across the UBC campus and strolled into a press conference where, with minimal briefing, he stood beside UBC president Santa Ono to announce a $3-million sa国际传媒 government capital infusion to build 91 childcare spaces in new modular campus buildings. Then he shook hands, did a quick site tour, and took off to hot yoga.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of unbelievable,鈥� said Eby鈥檚 younger brother, Matthew, who is one of his three siblings.
鈥淚t鈥檚 funny to see him go from money laundering and the issue of the day and how complex and nuanced and difficult it is, and then 30 minutes later he鈥檚 at home and has a huge smile on his face and doesn鈥檛 have the weight on his shoulders.鈥�
Swinging big
Eby has spent much of his life fighting for causes he believed in. Matthew recalled how, as a teenager, his brother once invited him to the circus near their childhood home in Kitchener, Ont. 鈥� only for Matthew to discover the trip wasn鈥檛 to enjoy the rides, but to videotape the treatment of elephants and demand answers from circus officials.
Eby was always 鈥渘aturally curious,鈥� reading books, digging something up, tracking down source material, said Matthew, who runs a New York-based foundation that researches flooding. He successfully ran for president of his high school, using a 鈥淪uper Dave鈥� campaign slogan that was a riff on the early 1990s comedy character of the same name. And he protested against globalization and corporations, while advocating for the environment and human rights.
Their mother was a teacher, and their father a personal injury lawyer. Eby took his undergrad degree at the University of Waterloo in 鈥渞hetoric and professional writing.鈥�
At one university protest, he met lawyers who were training activists on their rights against arrest. 鈥淚 saw those lawyers and it was like a lightning bolt and I was like 鈥� this is exactly what I want to do,鈥� said Eby. He took off to study law at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Law degree in hand, he fell in love with a girl and moved with her to sa国际传媒, where in 2002 he articled with the federal Department of Justice in the residential school section. 鈥淚t was all the right issues, on all the wrong sides,鈥� he said.
Vancouver lawyer John Richardson recruited Eby to help the newly formed Pivot Legal Society, where his activism and legal training meshed into a fight to protect vulnerable residents and the homeless, while advocating for more low-income housing.
Years and years of relentless work at Pivot and sa国际传媒 Civil Liberties followed. Then, a divorce and burnout.
A key to Eby鈥檚 resurrection has been wife Cailey, a doctor who is even smarter and more focused than he is. They met in 2011. Shortly after, the NDP recruited Eby to run in the Vancouver-Point Grey byelection against then Liberal premier Christy Clark. Eby surprised political observers by coming within 564 votes of victory.
He ran again in 2013, this time stunning Clark in an upset. The day after the election, Cailey, then a nurse, got into medical school. They鈥檝e tried to balance and support each other鈥檚 ambitions and goals ever since.
Eby built up steam as an opposition NDP critic on housing affordability, foreign buyers, cash-for-access fundraisers, real estate loopholes, political donations and money laundering.
Some in the Chinese community felt singled out by Eby鈥檚 criticism of wealthy foreign owners who exploit real estate loopholes to avoid paying taxes. Eby has quietly taken three years of Mandarin lessons, and can now hold passable conversations with Chinese critics.
He rubbed others in the party the wrong way with his one-man media show that paid little deference to the leader鈥檚 office. But he was so successful that he was encouraged to run for sa国际传媒 NDP leader in 2014. Eby had his campaign team in place, with big backers. 鈥淚 was inclined to support him,鈥� Horgan said.
But at the last minute, Cailey told him she was pregnant with Ezra. Eby cancelled his launch, convinced Horgan to run instead and co-chaired Horgan鈥檚 campaign.
Two years later, with New Democrats lagging in the polls, some party members whispered in Eby鈥檚 ear to take over from Horgan and lead the NDP into the 2017 election. Horgan and Eby met. Horgan offered to step aside. But Ezra had just turned two. Eby, citing his family, reiterated his support for Horgan.
The NDP would form government after the election 鈥� Horgan as premier and Eby, the almost-leader, as attorney general.
鈥淚鈥檓 so glad I made the call to drop out of the NDP leadership,鈥� said Eby.
鈥淏ecause I feel like I am doing all the things that I want to do right now. I鈥檓 addressing all the files that I want to address right now. And I鈥檓 really enjoying it. And I don鈥檛 have to travel the entire province every week and I don鈥檛 have to be accountable to all these different stakeholder groups as the leader of the party and the leader of the province. So I鈥檓 glad John is doing that work.鈥�
For most New Democrats, Eby remains the party鈥檚 leader-in-waiting for whenever Horgan retires.
The only question will be: Does the more mellow David Eby still want the job?
Cailey has a motto for their marriage and careers that鈥檚 already applied to the risks of going to medical school and running for provincial office. It also applies to Eby鈥檚 political future, and the idea of him one day taking a run at the premier鈥檚 office.
鈥淓veryone gets to swing big if they want to,鈥� she said.
It means she鈥檚 there to help maintain their family-life balance, should he one day want to take that swing at the top job. But he鈥檚 also promised the same balance as she pursues her medical career.
At the end of a hot yoga session near his apartment at UBC, Eby walks home covered in sweat from his workout. He鈥檚 going to check in with Cailey, and hold Iva, before his next work event. He鈥檚 got a big, goofy smile on his face.
鈥淚 feel incredible,鈥� he says. For once, he鈥檚 not talking about work.
