PALMER’S VIEW,
The premier wouldn’t dare tell Guichon what to do, unless of course she asks
Most days, B.C. Lt.- Gov. Judith Guichon is preoccupied with the viceregal and symbolic roles of an office that is, to be sure, mostly ceremonial.
This is not one of those days. Guichon, the Nicola Valley rancher who has served as B.C.’s 29th lieutenant-governor since 2012, faces one of the tougher judgment calls in the long history of the office.
Moreover, the decision is tougher than it needs to be because of the antics of one of the more cunning partisans ever to serve as premier of this province, Christy Clark.
For weeks, Clark and her inner circle have schemed to contrive a dilemma for Guichon, all the while pretending they were doing nothing of the kind.
Once the NDP and Greens struck an accord to work together at the end of May, Clark acknowledged the likelihood they would combine to defeat her government on a confidence motion in the legislature.
Asked about the job of Opposition leader, she said she was quite prepared to take it on. She even professed to be looking on the bright side of the reduced workload, quoting son Hamish as saying perhaps their household could now get a dog.
Clark also maintained that in the event of defeat, she would meet with the lieutenant-governor to signal her intention to resign without advising the honourable Guichon on a particular course of action.
She would not recommend Guichon to call on Horgan to form a government, neither would she suggest calling another election to try to resolve the 44-43 standoff between the Liberals and the NDP- Green alliance.
In short, the public was offered the picture of a premier who was prepared to take her electoral medicine, retreat to the Opposition benches and not try to sway the viceregal representative one way or the other.
There matters stood until last week, when the legislature resumed with the B.C. Liberals plagiarizing whole sections of the Green and NDP platforms in a bid to persuade one or more members of the alliance to cross the floor or otherwise support the government.
No dice. So Monday of this week, Clark and her operatives tried another dodge, tabling two pieces of legislation crafted to drive a wedge between NDP Leader John Horgan and the Greens’ boss, Andrew Weaver.
The scheme flopped spectacularly, as the Greens and New Democrats combined to subject both bills to the indignity of defeat on first reading, something that had never before happened to government-authored legislation in the provincial legislature. Having twice failed to disrupt the Horgan-Weaver partnership, the B.C. Liberals threw a slow-motion tantrum. Had the Greens and New Democrats not received the memo about the electorate wanting MLAs to co-operate and work together?
The unwillingness of Horgan and Weaver to compromise themselves by throwing in with the discredited Liberals indicated nothing one way or another about their ability to work together. But on and on the Liberals went, accusing the other parties of hypocrisy, obstructionism and worse.
On Tuesday, they enlisted the Speaker and the legislature clerks in an exercise aimed at proving that the NDP- Green alliance couldn’t possibly be made to work.
Speaker Steve Thomson responded to questions from the government with a carefully drafted letter that acknowledged the challenges ahead while scrupulously avoiding “a definitive ruling on hypothetical or abstract situations.”
By an amazing coincidence, that letter was distributed to reporters Wednesday afternoon, just moments before the premier herself materialized to provide a significantly revised take on what she will and will not be saying to the lieutenant-governor in a meeting now expected to take place later Thursday.
“It is not my intention to advise her whether or not she should call an election — that’s her decision,” Clark told reporters.
“But if she asks me do I think this legislature is working or can it work, I’ve got to be honest: It isn’t working.” Not for her, it isn’t. “I haven’t seen any evidence it could work,” Clark continued.
“I know they have the numbers to topple the government and take power, but I haven’t seen any evidence they have the numbers they need to actually govern. … If she asks me about that, that’s the advice I have to give her because it has to be an honest conversation.”
So the premier who wasn’t going to give the lieutenantgovernor any advice was now preparing to tell her, if asked, that the New Democrats couldn’t possibly make things work, leading to the obvious conclusion — much as Clark denied it — that instead of calling on Horgan, Guichon should call another election.
But before venturing down that slippery garden path, Guichon would be wise, once Clark confirms her intention to resign, to confer with Horgan.
The New Democrats and the Greens have given serious thought to managing the challenges in the legislature. They have already concluded they can make do without unilateral changes in the standing orders. Perhaps they have other solutions as well.
If sufficiently satisfied by those assurances to call on Horgan to form a government, the lieutenant-governor could further ask the premier-designate to recall the legislature in short order and demonstrate he has the confidence of the house.
Granted, there would be no guarantees that the powersharing arrangement could be made to work for long. But in my view, it would be more prudent to give it a chance rather than declare it a failure based on the self-serving suppositions of a scheming premier.
If (Guichon) asks me do I think this legislature is working or can it work, I’ve got to be honest: It isn’t working.
CHRISTY CLARK, premier