GUICHON ADDRESSES HER MEMORABLE CALL
Allowing NDP to form a government guarantees her a spot in history books
As Judith Guichon departed the vice-regal office that she served so well late last month, she downplayed her judgment call that made John Horgan the 36th premier of B.C.
“I have spoken to many folks from the media (about) what most regard as the most memorable moment during my tenure,” said Guichon at the April 23 ceremony marking the end of her 5½ years as B.C.’s 29th lieutenantgovernor.
“If asked what my top three memories are, that day in June would not pop into mind as one of them.”
Then she added, to much laughter: “Sorry, Premier Horgan.”
Still, for all her insistence that she was personally more likely to remember other events among the 2,400 she’d presided over, there was no getting away from the one that guaranteed her a spot in the history books.
“It comes down to sheer numbers,” Guichon told Justine Hunter of the Globe and Mail regarding her decision to reject advice from Christy Clark to call another election, accept Clark’s resignation as premier, then call on Horgan to form a government.
“The option was pretty clear, that if you add up the numbers, there was an opportunity for those that decided they were going to work together.”
Clark was one seat short of a majority in the 87-seat house while the New Democrats struck a deal with the Greens for a combined 44. The two parties had already demonstrated they could work together, combining to defeat the Liberals twice on June 26 and twice more on the 29th.
The combination proved to be more stable than many observers expected at the time, though that got a helping hand from the defection of Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas to serve as Speaker.
“I believe if we look at what is going on right now, the house is surviving,” Guichon told Richard Zussman in an exit interview with Global TV. “We are going on, we have no interruption and the legislators are doing what they are supposed to do, governing.”
Beyond those brief allusions, Guichon maintained the tradition of non-disclosure about the workings of a mostly ceremonial but sometimes constitutionally critical office.
What little else we know of the events of last June is owing to A Matter of Confidence, an inside account of the 2017 election and change of government, by Zussman and Rob Shaw of The Vancouver Sun.
They reported how Clark urged the lieutenant-governor to “dissolve the legislature because no party can govern in there” — advice as desperate as it was mistaken.
They reported how Guichon put just two questions to Horgan on the evening of the 29th. Do you have the confidence of the house? Can you form a government?
“I believe I do” and “yes,” he replied. “Well, best of luck,” returned Guichon, giving him the nod to move into the premier’s office.
The authors probed the uncharted territory of who Guichon did and did not consult before reaching a decision. She definitely talked to clerk of the legislature Craig James. They speculate she may also have talked to then-governor general David Johnston, himself a legal and constitutional expert.
The book discloses the lieutenant-governor made time to chat with former Social Credit attorney general Brian Smith and former B.C. Liberal cabinet minister Ida Chong. Chong told the authors she recommended another election and was surprised when the advice was not taken.
I wonder about the optics of receiving Chong, a former member of Christy Clark’s cabinet defeated in her last bid for a seat in the house by none other than Green Leader Andrew Weaver. But perhaps that accounts for Guichon’s reference in one interview to having received “unsolicited” as well as “solicited” advice.
She never did connect with Peter Hogg, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto and author of the definitive “Constitutional Law of Canada.” But he told the authors she made the right call in giving Horgan a chance to govern.
Weighing in more recently was Philippe Lagasse, a Carleton University professor who specializes in Canada’s parliamentary system of government.
“The decision made reinforces some pretty well established conventions,” he told Justin McElroy of the CBC. “It further cements the idea that if there is another viable government in the wings and a certain amount of time hasn’t passed since an election, that a lieutenantgovernor will grant another party the opportunity to form government before accepting a dissolution.”
He suggested one improvement in the process, namely disclosure of the identities of the lieutenant-governor’s advisers and the advice they gave: “I think the public and scholars would benefit from knowing who these people were and what their perspective of the question might have been.”
Agreed, especially given the possibility that B.C. may switch to a system of proportional representation before the next election. One-party majorities would be less likely under PR, making powersharing arrangements more likely and judgment calls by the vice-regal representative more commonplace.
Going forward, the panel of constitutional and legal advisers to the lieutenantgovernor should be appointed at the same time as the office itself is filled. Any advice they are called on to provide on dismissing and appointing premiers and governments should be public as well.
The final call would still be up to the lieutenant-governor, as it should be. But no longer should these decisions be shrouded in mystery and speculation.
If asked what my top three memories are, that day in June would not pop into mind as one of them.
JUDITH GUICHON, former B.C. lieutenant-governor