B.C. Premier David Eby has been been asked by Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin to form the next government after absentee votes tallied Monday gave the New Democrats a narrow majority.
The NDP gained the one additional seat they needed for a majority when the Elections B.C.’s count flipped the riding of Surrey-Guildford to NDP from Conservative.
That gave the NDP 47 seats, which is the threshold for a majority government. The B.C. Conservatives have 44 seats and the Greens two seats.
“It is an incredible honour and a huge responsibility,” Eby said in a statement of the call to form government. “We are listening to the message voters sent with this close election, and will be getting to work on today’s tough challenges right away.”
Eby met with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin on Monday afternoon, when the final vote count was clear, and she asked him to form the next government. “We will, and we will work hard every day to earn the trust you have placed in us,” Eby said.
Austin said having received assurances from Elections B.C. of the final count results on Monday the two met and Eby advised her he is prepared to continue as premier of B.C.
The initial vote tally by Elections B.C. on Oct. 19 had the NDP at 46, Conservatives at 45 and Greens at two.
A count of just over 43,000 mail-in and assisted-telephone votes over the weekend put the NDP within a stone’s throw of claiming the seat in Surrey-Guildford on Sunday night.
After about 22,000 absentee and special votes were counted on Monday, the NDP took the lead away from the Conservatives in Surrey-Guildford, ending up 27 votes ahead.
In Kelowna Centre, the Conservatives stayed in front and are 38 votes ahead of the NDP.
Judicial recounts will occur in Surrey-Guildford and Kelowna Centre because of the close vote counts. An automatic judicial recount occurs when the margin between the first two candidates is below the threshold of 1/500th of all the votes cast.
The judicial recounts will not, however, delay the forming of a new government, the premier’s office said.
Recounts for Juan de Fuca-Malahat (won by NDP), Surrey City Centre (NDP) and one tabulator machine in Kelowna Centre (Conservative) changed the vote margins but didn’t change winners on Monday.
The final count, which occurs with every provincial election, is often regarded as more of a housekeeping matter but with such a tight race, the final count and recounts posed potential upsets in several ridings.
Royal Roads political scientist David Black called it “a very fragile majority” given that if the Speaker comes from the NDP caucus, that reduces the NDP to 46 seats. The Speaker can come from any party and is regarded as an impartial member but can be called upon to vote in ties. However, it’s conventional for the Speaker to never be the one whose vote brings down the government.
This B.C. NDP government will require some type of formal or informal agreement with the B.C. Greens, said Black.
The NDP has been speaking with the B.C. Greens since last week when Leader Sonia Furstenau said she answered a phone call from the NDP leader but had not returned a call from B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad.
Furstenau and newly elected Green MLAs Rob Botterell representing Saanich North and the Islands, and Jeremy Valeriote representing West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, said the parties will have to work together for the legislature to function effectively.
“This outcome follows a very negative, polarizing election,” they said in a joint statement.
“Government works best when MLAs collaborate and prioritize their constituents over party interests to deliver those outcomes,” they said.
“The NDP can tell a new and better story now, that is they have won a majority government,” said Black. “That one seat with respect to perceived legitimacy and bargaining power … is significant.”
The NDP government now continues its transition preparations to swear in MLAs which could happen as early as next month.
“With these results, we are saying goodbye to talented colleagues whose voices will be missed in the legislature,” said Eby. In the 2020 election, the NDP won 57 of 87 seats.
Given the closeness of the election result, Black said Eby will need to keep reiterating and reflecting he has heard the concerns of the electorate which has expressed anger over affordability, housing, public safety and health care.
He must also be more engaged with and listen to his MLAs, said Black, adding Eby can’t afford to lose “an Adam Walker or Selina Robinson” this time around.
Walker, an NDP Parksville-Qualicum MLA, was kicked out of the NDP caucus for an undisclosed alleged issue related to staff, while Selina Robinson, MLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville and former minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, was forced to resign after remarks she made about pro-Palestine groups.
Rustad said the B.C. Conservatives — which won less than two per cent in the vote in 2020 — went from 0 to 44 seats over 18 months because of grit, determination and a massive grassroots movement.
The Conservatives have expressed confidence in the vote counting process.
In a post on social media platform X, Rustad said he accepts the results of this election and thanked Elections B.C. workers.
"While there are still judicial recounts to be completed, it's now clear that our party will not win enough seats to form government in B.C.," he said. "I am ready to begin the important work of leading B.C.’s Official Opposition."
He said B.C.’s Conservative caucus is committed to holding government accountable and advocating for policies that reflect the best interests of all British Columbians.
Rustad thanked the voters — 910,180 or 43.27% in the Elections B.C. count — who supported the party, saying: "Together — we made history in British Columbia."
— With a file from The Canadian Press
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
