Since we’re speaking of political quagmires ...
Balance of power rests on fact Speaker must be an elected MLA
B.C.’s NDP and Green parties have inked a deal to form the next provincial government, but the success of their razor-thin hold on power will largely come down to who gets picked for a procedural job unknown to most British Columbians.
The Speaker of the legislature
is normally a low-profile position, with ceremonial duties, usually given to a government backbench MLA who has no hope of making cabinet.
But the results of the May 9 election make the Speaker vitally important, setting up a potential deadlock that is extraordinarily rare.
Nobody from the Liberals, Greens or NDP want the job. That’s because the parties are within one vote of each other in the house (43 Liberals to 44 Green-NDP), and they would lose a crucial person if they offered a member to be Speaker.
At the Liberal caucus meeting Tuesday, MLAs agreed that none of them — including previous Speaker Linda Reid — would take the job when the legislature resumes.
The Greens and NDP have been considering similar moves internally, as the parties seek to protect their slim advantage.
If that holds, business grinds to a halt at the legislature. Provincial law and house procedures are clear: the first order of business after an election is to elect a Speaker. No speeches, bills, motions or budgets are allowed until then. The NDP and Greens can’t even unite to outvote Clark until a Speaker is in place.
To figure out what might happen, you have to look back to 1908 in Newfoundland, where two parties ended the election tied at 18 seats each and refused to appoint a Speaker. The lieutenant-governor called another election.
That’s unlikely to happen right away, if at all, in B.C., said Phillipe Lagassé, an associate professor at Carleton University and a specialist on issues involving the Crown.
“The point that needs to be made here is it’s not so much everybody puts up their hand who isn’t willing to do it and we go to an election,” Lagassé said.
“The lieutenant-governor in this case will try and convince all of the parties in particular to really seriously think about this and try and find a solution. It’s not in anybody’s interest to have one effort, one go at it, and then trigger an election.”
If she feels the Liberals are being obstructionist, Lt.- Gov. Judith Guichon could use the opportunity to ask Horgan to govern. But that would be an extremely rare move as well, he said.
The NDP and Greens could try to lure a weak Liberal to take the job, as it comes with a $52,941 pay raise on top of the base MLA salary of $105,881. But within the Liberal ranks that would be considered a betrayal akin to crossing the floor to join the other party.
B.C.’s Constitution Act requires the Speaker be an elected MLA, removing the possibility of an unelected outsider temporarily installed in the job.
The most likely scenario seems to be the Liberals blinking first in the standoff, allowing an MLA to stand as Speaker, then have that person resign immediately after the Clark government is defeated — leaving the mess of a permanent replacement for the new NDPGreen government to solve.
The lieutenantgovernor in this case will try and convince all of the parties in particular to really seriously think about this and try and find a solution.
If the NDP- Green alliance had to name a member as Speaker from their own ranks, they’d be left with a 43-43 tie with the Liberals. It would then be up to the Speaker to cast the deciding vote.
Traditionally, the Speaker is a non-partisan referee who uses their tiebreaking vote to continue debate or maintain the status quo. But that’s a convention, not a law, Lagassé said.
There’s nothing stopping B.C.’s next Speaker from breaking every tie in favour of their own party, though it would be “highly problematic” because it would erode the integrity of the office, Lagassé said.
Ultimately, however the Speaker stalemate is resolved, the winning candidate will undergo the bizarre but traditional ceremony in which the leaders of the two main parties pretend to drag the reluctant MLA from their seat to the chair on the Speaker’s throne to start the job.
“The idea is it’s kind of a thankless position,” Lagassé said. “One you may not want to do, but need to do.”
Someone will be dragged to B.C.’s Speaker’s chair next month. But this time, the reluctance will be real.