The Green Party’s three seats give leader Andrew Weaver a lot of say in how long the Clark government can survive in the first minority government in B.C. since the 1950s.
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Which of these scenarios unfolds will depend on a number of factors and ultimately hinge on one figure: Lt. -Gov.
The 2013 election saw the centrepiece of Premier Clark’s platform built around the promise of the development of a lucrative LNG industry that would deliver significant jobs and revenues. In the B.C. election, a party needed 44 out of 87 seats to win a majority mandate.
But the election night numbers could change when the absentee ballots are counted May 22 as there are several close results in other parts of the province, including in Courtenay-Comox on Vancouver Island, where the NDP candidate leads her Liberal challenger by just nine votes.
Canadian province British Columbia hasn’t seen a party govern with a minority of the seats in parliament in more than 60 years, Kallanish Energy learns. They want us to work together.
In this case, a spokesperson for Christy Clark tells CKNW Judith Guichon had that conversation with her Wednesday morning.
During the election, the Building Trades praised Horgan for his pledge to fund the mayor’s transit plan, committing to use local British Columbia skilled labour and creating apprenticeship opportunities through a Project Labour Agreement.
“We’re attracting voters from across the political spectrum who want politics to be done differently in British Columbia”, Andrew Weaver, the Green Party leader in the province, said in an interview on Wednesday.
Liberal cabinet ministers who were defeated Tuesday included Peter Fassbender in Surrey-Fleetwood, Suzanne Anton in Vancouver-Fraserview, Amrik Virk in Surrey-Guildford and Naomi Yamamoto in North Vancouver-Lonsdale.
My point? The argument that “Green supporters handed the election to the Liberals” (a message promoted by the NDP) requires a much more nuanced look than it may seem.
With three seats, the Green party holds the balance of power in the legislature – a remarkable position for Weaver after becoming the first Green elected four years ago.
“I’m 35 and I ran for this party for the future and the children, and my yet to be conceived children, so I’m still hoping that we pull through”.
A Liberal victory was broadly seen as more friendly for business. But Horgan would not make a commitment to working with the Green leader in a minority government. As she left the polling station, Clark stopped to say hello to a young girl.
The initial vote count, which includes advance and general voting but not absentee ballots, was too close to call.
Horgan said that the NDP and the Green Party can work on that initiative in the legislature.
“The most important issue for us right now, the No. 1 deal breaker, is banning big money in B.C. politics”, he said.
The NDP accused the Liberals of dragging their feet on political fundraising by failing to back bills in the legislature that would have banned donations from the corporate and labour sectors.
“We don’t have experience in Canada with the Greens holding the balance of power, so we just don’t know what will happen”, said Nelson Wiseman, political science professor at the University of Toronto.
The six possible outcomes are: a Liberal majority; a Liberal minority; a NDP majority; a NDP minority; a Green-Liberal coalition or a Green-NDP coalition.
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She cited electoral reform – towards proportional representation, understandable for a small party – as an example of a Green priority that the Liberals would probably not agree to take up.
