B.C. Greens back NDP minority government
Clark’s Liberals now lack votes to hold power
• The political battle for British Columbia looks like it will end in defeat for Christy Clark’s Liberals, but the Premier said she wasn’t about to give up just yet.
On Monday, a deal was reached that paves the way for the NDP to form a minority government with support from the Green party.
The Liberals have been in power for 16 years and won the most seats in the May 9 election, but fell one short of a majority in the 87- seat legislature. They took 43 seats, compared with 41 for the NDP and three for the Greens.
For the first time in Canadian history, the results of the election left the Green party holding the balance of power.
Clark now lacks the votes to survive in the legislature and she will either have to resign or be defeated in the house.
But Clark wasn’t ready to concede defeat on Monday.
“It’s vitally important that British Columbians see the specific details of the agreement announced today by the B.C. NDP and Green party leaders, which could have farreaching consequences for our province’s future,” Clark said in a statement. “As the incumbent government, and the party with the most seats in the legislature, we have a responsibility to carefully consider our next steps.”
Clark said she would have more to say on Tuesday after consulting her caucus, adding the Liberal party had “made every effort to reach a governing agreement, while standing firm on our core beliefs.”
Clark, as the incumbent premier with the most seats, would normally be given the first chance to form a government by the lieutenantgovernor and it was unclear if the Liberals would still try to get the support of the legislature for its own agenda.
NDP Leader John Horgan and Andrew Weaver of the Greens said their agreement would allow for a stable minority government for the next four years.
“This is the certainty that I’m hoping to give British Columbia. Greens give the NDP their support for four years to show minority governments can work,” Weaver told a news conference held with Horgan.
Weaver said the Green caucus had voted in favour of the agreement and the NDP was scheduled to hold a vote on Tuesday, but Horgan did not think the deal would find any opposition among New Democrats. “I have every confidence there will be unanimous support from our team,” said Horgan.
Details of the agreement won’t be released until it is approved by the New Democrat caucus.
The NDP and the Green party have shared some common ground in their opposition to the expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C., and construction of the Site C hydro dam in the province.
Weaver i ndicated t he pipeline would be part of the agreement that comes out on Tuesday. “This issue of Kinder Morgan was one that was critical to us and I think you’ll see that reflected in tomorrow’s announcement.”
In Edmonton, Alberta’s deputy premier said they would work with whichever party was in power in B.C., but they believed the Trans Mountain pipeline was a done deal.
“The federal government has the authority to approve pipelines,” said Sarah Hoffman. “They’ve made that decision and our pipeline is moving forward.”
Asked if it was strange for Alberta’s NDP caucus to have mixed feelings about the NDP possibly forming a government in neighbouring B.C., she replied: “Interesting politics, as is often the case.”
The Greens went into negotiations making three key demands: getting official party status in the legislature, an electoral system based on proportional representation and political fundraising reform.
The Greens and NDP have supported a system of proportional representation that accounts for the number of seats each party gets based on their percentage of the popular vote.
Horgan has said he would not want to change the electoral system without a referendum. Weaver has said his preference was to implement proportional representation and then after two elections hold a referendum.
Two previous referendums on proportional representation have failed in B.C.
Horgan and Weaver have had a difficult personal relationship. However, Horgan was directly at the bargaining table to patch up the relationship.
“To be blunt, I think John and I saw a different side of each other in the negotiations,” said Weaver.
“This is an adversarial place by its nature,” said Horgan. “And both of us want to change that.”