With the May 9 provincial election result confirmed this week, the big question now is whether the Greens will decide to throw their support behind the Liberals or the NDP to form the next B.C. government.
The Greens’ Andrew Weaver said he would like to have a deal in place by May 31 or earlier, though he didn’t rule out extending the deadline if more time is needed to ink a working agreement with one party or the other.
Speaking to reporters after Wednesday’s final vote count, he said the Greens are “committed to bring stability to this province” and “actually make government work.”
Was he telegraphing latent support for the Liberals?
Strictly by the numbers, a Liberal-Green combo would appear to be a more stable arrangement than the alternative, netting 46 seats to the NDP’s 41. Teaming up with the NDP would yield 44 seats to the Liberals’ 43 – the slimmest of majorities – and would also require the lieutenant-governor’s blessing, since the Liberals did win the most seats.
In his formal statement, Weaver called the election result “an incredible opportunity for B.C.’s political leaders to put partisan differences aside and work for the common good.” That, too, sounds like it could be opening a path for the Liberals, provided they are sufficiently compliant in meeting the Greens’ key demands. Premier Christy Clark was indicating her readiness Wednesday by pledging to “work together, across party lines” in the coming term.
The danger for the Greens of collaborating with the Liberals, of course, is that it would alienate Green voters and set up the NDP for the next election as the more principled odd-party-out. The activist groups that are now calling for Weaver to work with the NDP, and put the environmental and social priorities that both parties ran on during the campaign ahead of deal-making, will scream betrayal if the Greens decide to prop up the Liberals instead.
If it goes that way, it will take a lot of explaining on Weaver’s part to convince some Green voters that they weren’t sold a bill of goods.
For the two main parties, the challenge will be to not lose support by caving in to a third party that represents less than 17 per cent of the popular vote. The NDP agreeing to proportional representation on the Greens’ terms – without a referendum first – could be one of those “deals with the devil” that all parties will want to avoid.
High stakes and high drama – the B.C. election saga continues.
