Greens warn against NDP majority
Furstenau says backing her party delivers `better form of governing'
B.C.'s Green leader is appealing to voters to coalesce around her party in an attempt to deny the NDP the majority that repeated polls suggest could be the outcome of the Oct. 24 provincial election.
Sonia Furstenau said British Columbians who are considering voting Green, but concerned about how that might affect the traditional fight between the B.C. Liberal and New Democratic parties, should feel safe to support her with a vote in this campaign. “This is an election where it's really important that, if you're inclined to vote Green, then vote Green,” she said Thursday.
“What we've seen in the ridings in 2017, where Andrew (Weaver), Adam (Olsen) and I were elected, is that those Green votes delivered to all of B.C. a better form of governing in this province. And that's what's going to be really essential.
“I hope we don't end up with a majority on the other side of this, but if we do, I think it will be very quickly apparent that we've lost something incredibly valuable in how our legislature works, and that we'll slide back into the kind of hyper-partisanship.”
The call for support comes after a leaders' TV debate on Tuesday and a radio debate on Thursday in which Furstenau was considered by many political experts to be the winner, based on her thoughtful answers and what appeared to be a heartfelt reflection on race and white privilege.
The Greens carried that momentum into a platform launch on Wednesday, which called for increases to income security, a move toward basic guaranteed income, a shift to a zero-carbon economy by 2045, rent support, equal pay legislation, small business rent subsidies and the phasing out of private seniors care homes. The Greens estimate costs at $10 billion over three years.
In a wide-ranging interview with a Postmedia News editorial board Thursday, Furstenau reflected on the successes and regrets of a power-sharing arrangement that gave John Horgan's NDP the votes needed to govern over the past 3.5 years.
Horgan had promised not to call an early election as part of the confidence and supply agreement, but broke that deal last month when he abruptly announced a snap vote.
Horgan tried to blame the Greens for not co-operating on certain legislation, but Furstenau has said he's being dishonest and trying to rewrite history as he attempts to grab power during a public health crisis.
“He would rather have all the party power in the legislature,” she said Thursday.
“I am, of course, deeply disappointed. And I think voters should just ask that fundamental question — do we want to give somebody who's motivated to call an unnecessary election out of a desire to have unlimited power in the legislature, should we give them that unlimited power? I don't think we should.”
The Greens did achieve some successes in the power-sharing deal, with the CleanBC environmental plan, an innovation commissioner, changes to the professional reliance model for engineering reports on environmental projects, and other reforms, said Furstenau.
Yet numerous polls indicate the NDP may be on track to a majority, and the Greens face the prospect of losing their remaining two seats. That wouldn't be the case if B.C. had chosen to reform its electoral system in the 2018 referendum. But the public rejected the idea, with blame largely centred on the NDP government's complex ballot and options for reform.
Upon reflection, Furstenau said it's clear the NDP hoped electoral reform would fail so the party could end up with a majority and have ultimate control of the legislature under the old system.
“When I look back, it does feel like it was set up not to succeed,” she said. “I would make the argument that had we succeeded in getting proportional representation, we wouldn't be in this election right now.”
Furstenau also said she's disappointed the NDP chose to proceed with building the Site C dam, which is now over-budget and facing myriad engineering problems.
“We thought they would follow the evidence — that's what they campaigned on,” she said. “I'm less naive now. I would say that the capacity to ignore evidence and to only hear the evidence that you want to hear is problematic for the NDP.”
Do we want to give somebody who's motivated to call an unnecessary election out of a desire to have unlimited power in the legislature, should we give them that unlimited power?