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John Horgan looked up at me. I looked down at him. And I suspect we both muttered “damn” under our breaths.

What are the odds that aisle seat 16C on Air Canada Flight 117 from Toronto to Vancouver would put me beside the Premier of British Columbia?

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I suspect this would not have happened with former Liberal premier Christy Clark, criticized for flying charter jets to her Kelowna constituency. Horgan is the working-class hero from Victoria, with a razor-thin minority government, and only too happy to fly with regular folk.

Ten minutes before, I had introduced myself to Horgan and his wife, Ellie, in the departure lounge at Pearson International Airport.

They were returning from a short getaway to Prince Edward Island, following the recent premiers’ conference in New Brunswick.

I was returning from a North America conservation biology conference in Toronto.

Horgan wished me well on my pending retirement, gave me a fist bump, and we parted ways.