MEET THE MAN WHO HOLDS BALANCE OF POWER,
ANDREW WEAVER
VANCOUVER• In 2013, Andrew Weaver thrust the B.C. Green party onto the political map by winning its first-ever legislative seat.
In Tuesday night’s election nail-biter, Weaver pulled the party further from the fringes and to potential “kingmaker” status with the B.C. Liberals reduced to a minority government and the Greens potentially holding the balance of power after clinching two additional seats.
If this outcome holds after the absentee ballots are counted and judicial recounts are completed, the Greens, who won 17 per cent of the popular vote, could be in a position to flex some muscle and influence key policy decisions, including the future of such major energy projects as Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia.
“They’re likely kingmakers for now,” said David Moscrop, a UBC political scientist. “That could change if a recount goes the right way for the Liberals, but right now, Andrew Weaver has critical and likely decisive influence over who will govern B.C. and plenty of influence over what the policy agenda will look like going forward.”
It’s a remarkable rise to power for the Cambridge-trained climate scientist who entered politics only after being nudged repeatedly by former party leader Jane Sterk.
For now, Weaver, 56, is keeping everyone guessing as to whether he will cosy up to the Liberals or the NDP in a possible coalition, saying it’s too premature to talk about that.
“In the days ahead, there will be plenty of discussions taking place between all parties,” he told reporters, adding that “good public policy” — not partisanship — will guide his decision-making.
The top priority, he said, is eliminating “big money” — corporate and union donations — from B.C. politics. He has also been unequivocal in his opposition to the building of a liquefied natural gas industry in B. C. and other energy projects.
“We don’t know what issues he will consider ‘deal breakers,’ but he’s expressed strong opposition to both Site C ( a hydroelectric dam project in northeastern B.C.) and Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion project,” said George Hoberg, a UBC professor of environmental and natural resource policy.
Even though the federal government may, constitutionally, hold the upper hand on interprovincial pipelines, the Greens could play a role in forcing significant delays to the Trans Mountain project, which received environmental approval from Christy Clark’s government in January, he said.
But Moscrop says there is always the possibility that Weaver could pull back on his opposition in return for, say, Liberal concessions on electoral reform (the Greens want to bring in proportional representation) or campaignfinance reforms.
“I think he’s playing a long game here and planning for the future for the Greens; he’d be wise to do so, politically, anyway,” Moscrop said.
On policy, the Greens would seem to have more of a kinship with the NDP. But in an interview with Global News during the campaign, Weaver said if he were going to work with the NDP, leader John Horgan would have to learn to control his emotions.
“( Horgan) has exploded on me multiple times. I want to work with him, I really do, and I’ve tried and I’ve continued to try, but he’s got to control his temper,” he said.
Before he entered politics, Weaver taught at the University of Victoria and held distinction as a member of the Nobel Prize- winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. That made him a target of climatechange deniers and recipient of a lot of hate mail calling him a “giddy huckster” and “flatulent demigod,” according to a CBC report.
Weaver sued the National Post several years ago claiming that a series of columns in 2009 and 2010 had defamed him by implying he was “untrustworthy, unscientific and incompetent.” In 2015, a B.C. judge ordered the Post to issue a retraction and pay Weaver $50,000 in damages.
But that decision was overturned last month by the B.C. Court of Appeal and a new trial was ordered.
After entering politics somewhat reluctantly, Weaver told University Affairs in 2015 he firmly bel i eved that academics at the “peak of their careers” should get involved in public office.
“There are only so many times you can give that talk,” he said, “before you look yourself in the mirror and say that you had better practise what you preach.”
Weaver worked to dismantle the notion that he was part of a radical fringe or that a vote for the Greens was a wasted vote. Prior to the campaign, he attracted international attention — and support from Clark — with a private member’s bill that would ban female restaurant workers from being forced to wear high heels.
But for all the power that the Greens could now potentially wield, Michael Prince offers a bit of caution. Historically, minority governments have not boded well for the third party, the University of Victoria professor of social policy said Wednesday.
Given that minority governments tend to limp along, an election could be called in a couple of years and voter appetite could swing back in favour of “clear, stable government” — to the detriment of the Greens.
Unless he wants to be relegated to “spectator” status, it might behoove Weaver to meet with Horgan — and soon — to hammer out a shared platform, he said.
“He’s got a rare opportunity here and a time- limited one,” Prince said. “I think they’d want to strategize."
(HORGAN) HAS EXPLODED ON ME MULTIPLE TIMES. I WANT TO WORK WITH HIM, I REALLY DO, AND I’VE TRIED AND I’VE CONTINUED TO TRY, BUT HE’S GOT TO CONTROL HIS TEMPER. — B.C. GREEN PARTY LEADER ANDREW WEAVER ON WORKING WITH NDP LEADER JOHN HORGAN