NDP leader John Horgan and Green leader Andrew Weaver announced Monday that their two parties have agreed to form a minority government, leaving Christy Clark with a decision to make that could include her resignation as premier of the province.
Speaking to reporters outside the B.C. legislature chamber, Horgan and Weaver didn’t reveal what deals were made among the two parties to form a minority, saying terms of the four-year “confidence and supply” agreement has to be ratified Tuesday by the NDP caucus.
A few mins ago, I joined @AJWVictoriaBC to announce an agreement between our parties. Thank you to all the voters who made this possible. pic.twitter.com/ifQ4Qk8IJf
— John Horgan (@jjhorgan) May 29, 2017
“I have every confidence that there’s going to be unanimous support from our team,” said Horgan, whose party won 41 seats in the May 9 provincial election to the Liberals’ 43. Weaver’s Greens won three seats, giving the party the balance of power. “The premier will have some choices to make, without any doubt. The agreement that’s been reached between the Greens’ caucus and the B.C. NDP caucus demonstrates we have the majority support of members in the legislature.”
In a statement released after the news conference, Clark said her party “made every effort to reach a governing agreement, while standing firm on our core beliefs.” She said it was important British Columbians see the specific details of the NDP-Greens agreement, warning it could “have far-reaching consequences for our province’s future.”
Horgan and Weaver promised to release the agreement once it’s ratified.
“As the incumbent government, and the party with the most seats in the legislature, we have a responsibility to carefully consider our next steps,” Clark said. “I will consult on those steps with the newly elected B.C. Liberal caucus, and have more to say tomorrow.”
What happens next will be up to Clark, who must recall the legislature to test the confidence of elected officials. The NDP-Greens deal is weighted in the Greens supporting, or giving confidence, to the NDP in votes including the throne speech and budgets.
Weaver said the Greens spent four sessions with the NDP negotiating the agreement. Weaver described negotiations with the Liberals as “very thorough and thoughtful.” The Green leader noted “we were very, very close with both parties” in reaching a deal to form government over the next four years.
I am thrilled to be working with John Horgan and the @bcndp so that BC can have a stable minority government for four years. #bcpoli https://t.co/GhQjKxtUkw
— Andrew Weaver (@AJWVictoriaBC) May 29, 2017
He emphasized the Greens did not ask for there to be a coalition. Horgan said there was no discussion about having his party absorb Weaver and Green MLA-elects, Sonia Furstenau and Adam Olsen into the NDP.
“We wanted to maintain a minority situation to show British Columbians that it can work,” said Weaver, who was vague in responding to a question about how close the party was to reaching a deal with the Liberals. “There were some things we felt were important…that some values were a little more common with others.”
The NDP and Greens share similar goals and promised during the election campaign to ban union and corporate donations, reject the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion from Alberta to Burnaby, implement a proportional representation voting system, raise welfare rates and create a ministry of mental health and addictions.
The NDP also wants to bring in $10-a-day child care while the Greens promised free childcare for children under three years old. Both parties also called for scrapping Medical Services Plan premiums, with the Greens saying they will eliminate premiums and roll them into payroll tax and personal income tax.
The parties have disagreed over bridge tolls, with the NDP promising to scrap them while the Greens say they’re good public policy. The Greens also promised to double the 15 per cent foreign buyers’ tax for Metro Vancouver and spread it across the entire province.
“I am very excited about the prospect of delivering for the people of British Columbia what they voted for on May 9, and that was change,” said Horgan, noting 60 per cent of voters cast a ballot for the NDP and Greens. “I’m very excited about the prospect of stable government and demonstrating to British Columbians that we can do great things when we work together. We can do great things across party lines.”
@Howellings
