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The B.C. NDP is in turmoil after losing the Oct. 24 election to the Conservatives. David Eby has resigned as leader, the caucus is recommending Jennifer Whiteside as interim leader, and Niki Sharma has not ruled out running for the top job, according to a CBC reporter.

Sharma, the former attorney general, told reporters after the loss that the party is taking stock.

“There’s no sugarcoating it. It was a tough day,” Sharma said. “We had to say goodbye to MLAs that were excellent… I think there’s a resolve within that reflectiveness to figure out how we do the job that British Columbians have elected us to do now, which is as official opposition.”

On Friday’s Rebel Roundtable livestream, Kat Kanada pointed to a social media post the panel said was written by Sharma years ago, complaining about the “unbearable levels of whiteness” of an election. 

“I think it’s so disgraceful what she said," said Kat. "You can’t ever expect the NDP to self-reflect and take any kind of accountability for an egregious statement like that.”

Wyatt Claypool, a political commentator who once worked at the legislature, said the B.C. Conservatives dumped their candidate in Victoria-Beacon Hill over a couple of Trump jokes and a joke comment about road-blocking protesters, while NDP figures face no such consequences.

“The things that they get away with saying… If they were a conservative who was white and male, you would just never be seen again in B.C. politics," said Wyatt.

Tamara Lich said the post was rich coming from a party that bills itself as the most tolerant.

“If it had been one of us that had made a comment like that the other way, we would be probably charged with mischief and under house arrest by now," she said.

The panel also discussed the interim leadership. Journalist Jared Jaeger reported that sources inside the NDP were outraged that the caucus publicly recommended Whiteside before the provincial council had approved her, as the party constitution requires.

Wyatt said the council later approved her, if begrudgingly, and that B.C. parties have not respected their own processes for a long time.