Delegates from the B.C. NDP have chosen North Vancouver's Craig Keating to be their new party president.
Keating, also a City of North Vancouver councillor, secured the job on Sunday at the party's first convention following its unexpected loss in May's election.
Keating beat out former MLA Jagrup Brar after campaigning since August to replace outgoing president Moe Sihota in the party's top job.
With the delegates' ballots counted, Keating is now focused forward on the job of getting the NDP out of the financial red and making the party electionready for 2017.
"For me, it's going to be a big task. Certainly the last election showed that we've got some key issues in terms of how we organize, how we deal with technology and data, the kind of vision and message we have, and we've got a pretty tight timeframe to deal with those before the next provincial election," Keating said.
The NDP still owes $1.7-million it borrowed to run the 2013 campaign. Beyond overseeing fundraising, as president, Keating will be the chairman of the party's board and be tasked with making sure the yet-tobe-chosen party leader, the caucus and the party staff and members are all working in step.
Keating, who also teachers history at Langara College, will keep his seat on council and run the party at the same time. It's not too big a task for an avid multi-tasker, Keating maintained.
"I would urge people in North Vancouver to reflect back on what has gone on over the past year, a period during which I was a councillor, I taught full time and I campaigned
very effectively for the B.C. NDP in the riding," he said. "I don't see how this is something that would be appreciably different from that."
Former president Bruce Ralston also ran a successful law practice while doing the job of NDP president, Keating noted.
If the load becomes too heavy, Keating said he will first look at scaling back the hours he spends teaching.
As for wearing both the NDP president and city council hats, Keating said municipal council tables provide a unique and valuable vantage point of Victoria.
"One of the things that everybody noted in the last provincial election is how many mayors and councillors the Liberals were able to elect. I think having that connection to the municipal sector, if we want to be competitive, is going to be key, so I'm very keen to keep my seat on city council," he said.
The party membership voted to choose its new leader at a convention to be held in the early fall of 2014. Keating had, during his campaign, urged his party to not rush into choosing a new leader.
