Anjali Appadurai ’13, is one of two candidates running for leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) for the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada. The winner of this election will automatically become premier of BC due to the premature resignation of the current premier, John Horgan of the NDP. The results of the election will be announced on December 3, 2022.
Appadurai’s political aim is to show the intersectional story of the climate crisis and what responsible action looks like. Her focus is on reframing the government to support human rights issues such as climate change, housing, health care, and the overdose crisis, according to The Tyee. She aims to redistribute power and wealth from corporations and private interests to fund public services, Canada’s National Observer states.
Appadurai’s extensive experience as an activist shapes her into being a radically different political candidate, she says.
“Being premier would be an incredible way to bring my activist background and the values that I built to the foreground,” she tells The Tyee.
“Anjali Appadurai probably isn’t going to beat David Eby and become BC NDP leader and premier. But she is going to transform the province’s political landscape and challenge the NDP government’s fundamental values and approach to governing,” Tyee senior editor Paul Willcocks writes.
“They tell us that the only thing we can do is tinker around the edges and make incremental changes,” Appadurai says in a Twitter video announcing her candidacy. “But I don’t believe them.”
Appadurai attended United World College USA in New Mexico for high school, where she devoted herself to humanitarian issues, working for the Red Cross and founding the Global Issues Club. During her third year at College of the Atlantic in 2011 she spoke at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP17) in Durban, South Africa. After graduating from COA, she worked for West Coast Environmental Law Association’s climate program, in BC, where she helped to sue five of the largest fossil fuel companies. She has also worked for Sierra Club BC and the Climate Emergency Unit.
In 2021, Appadurai ran for Member of Parliament MP for the Vancouver-Granville electoral district of BC, under the NDP, but lost by 400 votes in what was one of the country’s closest races. This time around, she will be running against David Eby, who up until now had been unchallenged and endorsed by 48 of the 57 members of the BC NDP caucus.