Clark’s advice may prompt election
Premier will tell Guichon she has no faith NDP can govern, if asked
Premier Christy Clark says she’ll tell B.C.’s lieutenantgovernor the legislature has no hope of functioning properly under an NDP government, advice that could pave the way for another provincial election.
Clark’s Liberals are expected to be defeated in a confidence vote today and Clark would immediately visit Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon to hand in her resignation as premier.
Clark said she won’t offer the advice unsolicited, but would respond honestly to questions Guichon might ask about whether the NDP-Green alliance could form a stable, functional government with a one-vote margin in the house.
“I’ve got to be honest, you’ve seen what I’ve seen this last week, it isn’t working,” Clark told a news conference on Wednesday.
“There is no effort on the part of either party to work together. Or to collaborate. This isn’t a working legislature. And I haven’t seen any evidence it could work.
“If she asks me about that, that’s the advice I have to give her because it has to be an honest conversation.”
Clark’s advice is significant because, as premier, what she says will weigh heavily on Guichon as she decides whether to call upon NDP Leader John Horgan to form government or to send the province back to the polls.
The NDP and Greens are expected to combine their 44 votes to defeat the Liberal government at 5:30 p.m., and Clark is expected to immediately visit Government House to speak to Guichon.
Clark said British Columbians don’t want another election. But she doesn’t think the NDP can govern with 44 votes under their alliance with the Greens, compared to the 43-seat Liberals.
“If she asks me that question, am I supposed to lie?” Clark said. “Or should I just say, ‘I’m sorry, your honour, I can’t talk about that?’ ”
NDP Leader John Horgan said he thinks he’s made a credible case to govern, using a written agreement with the Greens for their support on confidence matters.
“I’m hopeful she will do the right thing,” he said, referring to Guichon. “We should be given an opportunity to govern.”
Clark told Postmedia News last week she had no intention of giving any advice to the lieutenant-governor if she was forced to resign.
Constitution experts were highly critical of that stand.
“The public statements that the premier will cease to provide advice is deeply troubling and a serious dereliction of her duties,” said Eric Adams, associate professor of law at the University of Alberta and an expert in constitutional matters. “The underpinnings of a responsible government are based on the lieutenant-governor receiving advice from elected officials.”
Advice can happen “in a conversational way” between Guichon and Clark, it doesn’t have to be formally stated, Adams said.
Clark doesn’t have much of a choice if she’s asked by Guichon for her opinion, said David Smith, a distinguished visiting professor at Ryerson University who has written several books on constitutional matters.
“The lieutenant-governor, the Crown’s representative, is in a position to expect advice if asked for it,” he said. “I think to sit there mute would be not an option.”
Clark’s statements are also significant because it would be unconstitutional for Guichon to call a new election without Clark’s advice, Adams said.
“My advice to her would be that, no, she needs the advice of her first minister to dissolve the legislature,” he said.
“Let’s step back for a minute — that makes perfect sense. We don’t want the alternative precedent of lieutenant-governors deciding on their own that things seem a bit unstable out there, time for an election. That’s not their call or responsibility.”
Horgan, meanwhile, is likely to get a call late today to come to Government House for a conversation with Guichon.
She’ll ask him whether he can govern, and she’ll be obliged to take his word, said Andrew Heard, a political-science professor at Simon Fraser University who specializes in constitutional matters.
“If the NDP claim that they will be able to work within the rules, or change the rules in minor ways to allow it to work, she does, in fact, need to take that assurance,” Heard said.
“It is a duty on the lieutenantgovernor to allow the house to run its course. Especially with this evidence in hand of an agreement signed by a majority of (NDP and Green) members, it is clear that there is a viable alternative.”
Peter Russell, a constitutional expert from the University of Toronto, said he expects Guichon to at least let Horgan try to govern.
“Her main function is to try to honour the decision of the voters of B.C.,” Russell said. “My guess will be she’ll give this Legislative Assembly a chance and not dismiss it out of hand as unworkable, and let the NDP govern with a pledge of Green support and see what it can do.”
We don’t want the alternative precedent of lieutenantgovernors deciding on their own that things seem a bit unstable out there, time for an election.