Will Christy Clark bow out gracefully or put up a fight?
Voters likely to be angry if Liberal leader clings to power with silly games
John Horgan is raring to go. The NDP leader says he’s ready to be sworn in as British Columbia’s 36th premier and he’s anxious to start governing.
“My objective is to get a government in place as quickly as possible,” Horgan told me in an interview, after he and Green party Leader Andrew Weaver signed their historic power-sharing agreement last week.
Horgan may have finished second in the May 9 election, but his New Democrats and Weaver’s third-place Greens won 44 seats between them, just enough for the narrowest-possible majority in the 87-seat B.C. legislature.
Weaver has agreed to prop up a Horgan-led NDP government, and the pair of political pals scooted over to the lieutenant-governor’s residence in an electric car to let her know. But now it’s a waiting game. “We’re ready to go,” Horgan said. “A lot of people are thinking, ‘Why is this taking so long?’ ”
Here’s why: Someone else has the job of premier. Her name is Christy Clark, and she’s not going to be rushed out the door as quickly as Horgan wants.
Clark’s Liberals got the most votes and won the most seats — 43 — in the election. Now Clark intends to call the legislature into session, even if it means she’s doomed to be voted out of office by the new NDP-Green alliance.
Why doesn’t Clark face facts, throw up her hands and resign immediately? She says it’s because constitutional experts told her she has a duty to “test the confidence” of the legislature first.
I’m told Clark explained this to members of the Liberal caucus last week. She asked if any Liberal MLAs wanted her to quit right away, and her caucus backed her up and urged to go to Victoria and face her foes.
So now Clark is planning to appoint a new cabinet. A postelection cabinet swearing-in usually comes with lots of hype and hoopla — a glitzy ceremony followed by a fancy party with drinks and appetizers — but this one will be more low-key.
I’m told Clark’s staff is also busy writing a throne speech that will lay out her vision and agenda for the province.
The throne speech would be read by Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon.
According to the rules of the legislature, MLAs would then vote on whether to support or oppose the speech.
If the Clark government loses this critical confidence vote — and they clearly will as long as the NDP-Green alliance holds together — then Clark would have to resign and Horgan would become premier.
But there could be a delay in that, too. That’s because the rules say MLAs can spend up to six days debating the throne speech before they vote on it.
That means Clark’s Liberals could also introduce legislation during the throne speech debate.
There could even be topsy-turvy question periods where the NDP and Green opposition MLAs ask questions of Clark and her cabinet ministers. (Unless the New Democrats and Greens refuse to play along with the charade and just walk out of the chamber.)
In other words, Clark and her Liberals could play a game of make-believe government for several days before facing their downfall in the throne speech vote.
This would be a risky game if it looks like she’s simply clinging to power and deliberately delaying her inevitable Waterloo.
But I’m told Clark wants to make it crystal clear to British Columbians exactly what the second- and third-place parties are tossing onto the scrap heap of history.
She wants to lay out an agenda — no doubt it will be the most wonderfully rosy picture of a glorious Liberal-ruled future ever painted — and make her enemies vote it down for everyone to see.
It’s her right to do that, and I think she should absolutely make her case. But she should do it quickly and honourably, or the public will just see her as a sore loser.
When will all this happen? A government insider told me they plan to give two weeks’ notice to the clerk’s office at the legislature before bringing the house into session.
That means the doomed throne speech could be read on or around Monday, June 19, with the exact date soon to be confirmed.
Before that throne speech is read, however, those pesky legislature rules will come into play again. They say members of legislature must first elect a speaker, who will act as the non-voting referee of the house.
The speaker can be any MLA from any party, other than the premier or a member of the cabinet. This sets up another bizarre scenario. Rumours are flying that the Liberals will refuse to nominate one of their own MLAs to be speaker, even though the Liberals will still technically be the governing party, which normally nominates one of their own to the post.
What if the NDP and Greens refuse to nominate someone, too? Then there would be no speaker at all.
What if an NDP or Green MLA is elected speaker and the vote on the throne speech ends in a 43-43 tie?
The speaker is allowed to vote to break a tie, though by parliamentary convention is expected to vote with the government.
Either of these scenarios could trigger a constitutional crisis, and the lieutenant-governor might decide to call a new election to resolve it.
Hopefully, Clark won’t be tempted to play these silly games.
The Liberals should nominate one of their own to be the speaker, the throne speech should be read, and then Clark can accept defeat with some dignity.
If she tries some sort of procedural trick to force a back-door election, I suspect angry voters would punish the Liberals even more.
It’s time for Clark to accept the job of leader of the Opposition.
I think she would be pretty good at it.