BC Elections on Wednesday announced that the seat count remained unchanged at the conclusion of final count:
BC Liberal Party: 43 (40.36%)
BC NDP: 41 (40.28%)
BC Green Party: 3 (16.84%)
| Courtenay-Comox | Jim Benninger | BC Liberal Party | 10,697 | 36.72% |
| Ronna-Rae Leonard | BC NDP | 10,886 | 37.36% | |
| Leah Catherine McCulloch | BC Conservative Party | 2,201 | 7.55% | |
| Ernie Sellentin | BC Green Party | 5,351 | 18.37% | |
| Final voting results – Complete | 29,135 | 100% | ||
That means that BC is headed for a minority government with both the Liberals and the NDP trying even more desperately to win over the support of the Green Party.
IN any case, Premier Christy Clark will get the first crack at forming the government.
In a statement she said: “I want to congratulate all candidates, from all parties, who put their names forward to run. It’s not easy, and they deserve our gratitude for working to make our province even better.
“With 43 BC Liberal candidates elected as MLAs, and a plurality in the legislature, we have a responsibility to move forward and form a government.
“The final result reinforces that British Columbians want us to work together, across party lines, to get things done for them.
“Our priority is to protect our strong economy and to manage BC’s finances responsibly, while listening closely to British Columbians on how we address important social and environmental priorities and how we can make BC politics more responsive, transparent, and accountable.
“The work is just beginning. My team and I look forward to delivering positive results for British Columbians.”
NDP Leader John Horgan in a statement said: “British Columbians have voted overwhelmingly to replace Christy Clark’s Liberals with a new government that works better for families. They voted for better schools, shorter wait times for health services, to defend our coast and to fix our broken political system. The newly elected BC NDP team will be working hard every day to ensure British Columbians get a new government that works for them instead of just the wealthy and well-connected.”
GREEN Party Leader Andrew Weaver in his statement said: “The B.C. Green caucus is committed to ensuring that British Columbians will have a stable minority government.
“With this historic result, British Columbia can finally put the ineffective two-party system behind us. It has led to a divisive legislature that primarily benefits special interests. This is an incredible opportunity for B.C.’s political leaders to put partisan differences aside and work for the common good. I look forward to working with both other parties so that we can finally get big money out of politics, move towards electoral reform and implement good public policy on a wide range of issues that puts people first.”
CLARK is not going to find it easy to stay in power. If the Green Party supports the NDP, she will have no choice but to resign.
Clark, egged on by her rich corporate supporters, may try to play it dirty by asking the lieutenant governor to dissolve the House and hold another election, but the lieutenant governor will be held in high contempt by British Columbians if she does so without first giving the NDP a chance to form a government and prove its majority in the House.
Also, Clark is no longer secure as her party’s leader. There are others who want her position and she is highly vulnerable after failing to win a majority.
