B.C. Government – The Next Steps
Prince George, B.C. – As the week starts, there are two questions being asked; when will Christy Clark recall the legislature, and who will be the speaker of the house?Clark has indicated she would issue the call to return to work “sooner rather than later”. It will take about two weeks between the actual call being made to the resumption of work in the House. If she was to issue the call today, the earliest the Legislature would resume is June 19th.
“One of the first orders of business is the election of the Speaker” says UNBC Political Science lecturer Jason Morris. The Speaker is the “chair” of the activities in the legislature, and is supposed to be non-partisan, and only votes in the event of a tie vote in the House. Morris says convention dictates the Speaker vote in favour of the government which, until defeated in a non confidence vote, is Christy Clark’s Liberals.
The agreement between the NDP and the Green party means they have 44 seats, one more than the Liberals 43. “It looks like we may have a member of the NDP take on that role ( as Speaker)” says Morris. That would leave the government and opposition tied at 43 seats, and the tie breaking vote in the lap of the Speaker. “Any MLA can put their name forward for the role of Speaker, but then the MLAs vote for the Speaker. Presumably it will be the acclamation of one person” says Morris “I can’t see the Liberals putting someone forward and losing a vote.”
He says there are rumblings there will be an NDP speaker who will break from convention and vote against the Throne Speech, “Which is a confidence vote to bring down the Christy Clark government. Then at that time, there could be an election, but it’s more likely the Lieutenant Governor would ask if anyone is capable of forming government which would presumably be a Premier Horgan backed by the Greens with that agreement they made last week.”
So if an MLA from the alliance becomes Speaker, there would always be a tie on any vote in the legislature, providing of course all MLAs are present. Making sure all MLAs are present for a vote may prove to be a challenge for all political parties says Morris “Party discipline will be in effect like never before” not only will all MLAs have to be present for important votes, they may be forced to abandon some of the promises they had made to constituents because they will have to vote with their team no matter what “Especially for rookie MLAs who made some promises to ‘take your concerns to Victoria’ they are in for a real shock.”
Just to make things a little more interesting, he says the whole scenario could change “If one member goes rogue and becomes independent, they effectively control the BC Government.”
Comments
does anyone else feel a possible new election in the air????
Yup
I certainly hope so.
If you are from the Interior, your vote doesn’t matter in the new BC. Why do you want another election and a waste of taxpayers dollars as the Lower Mainland and Victoria are now, effectively, the province of BC under the new government.
Good question! that is for the NDP and Greens to answer, they are the ones forcing it. the Libs are not just going to hand it to them. I say take it to another election. Hope the Libs win. If NDP does, then they won’t need the greens anymore. The greens will turn out to be the big losers if a new election is called and the true colors of the NDP will stand out.
The Greens will not be handed party status, based on their three seats until a new government is formed. a non-confidence vote means a new election and nothing can be changed until then. Hope the greens realize that if the NDP win a majority, they were used to get it and will receive nothing.
They can’t even figure out the speaker of the house for crying out loud! Like I stated before, all this crap about the Greeners and NDP taking an offensive measure against the Libs is a joke. Have another election, even though taxpayers will get dinged yet again due to Hoagie nimrod and Greenie pacifying their egos by doing what they did. I sure as hell will not vote for these two idiots now!
So darn true. Some suburbia types thought Greens could do a thing or two I guess. We are in a ridiculous situation and whether an election is called in a month or six, it’s absolutely frustrating, not only to the taxpayer like you and I, but businesses, small and big, don’t know which way is up right now.
Another election would be interesting new dynamics.
More or less voters?
Fewer voting Green?
More holding nose and voting BC libs?
More holding nose and voting NDP?
I’m hoping a lot more liberal voters and others turn out to dump this silly coalition on their heads. We need stability and we’re not going to get it with with what they’ve come out with so far.
By the sound of your comment you never did have any intention of voting for the NDP or the Green party.
Hey Oldman, who would?
Old, not in the least. I give a guy time to figure it all out, it’s taking Justin a little longer, but really hoping he’s good for our country. If he is, great! If not, we’ll vote him out.
Hey Grizzly-I would. Is it possible that maybe you are still feeling a little wounded after loosing Stephen Harper.
And then you people in George why the lower mainland controls government. Try to think what democracy is and how it works. If you vote for looser’s you will also loose.
Cheers
Guess you are in the same boat as all 3 Abby ridings went Liberal
Cheers
The NDP and Greens have a good opportunity to form the next Government. First they topple the Liberal Government with a non confidence vote, and then the L.Gov. asks them to form the Government.
This puts them in power (Which is what politics is all about) and allows them to bring in a budget, and also get a look at the financial situation left by the Liberals.
Once the budget is passed they are in business and are in fact the Government of BC. Can they hold it together for four years?? Who knows, however they will in fact get a chance to govern, which is what they want to do, so I can see the Greens and NDP working closely to keep themselves in power.
The Liberals on the other hand would be in opposition. Which for them would be ego deflating in the extreme. My guess is that some of the high rollers will just sit back and collect a pay cheque. Meanwhile Christy (Isn’t silence wonderful) will be polishing off her resume, while other members of her party sharpen their knives.
This election was a death blow to the Liberals and no amount of caterwauling will change it.
Sorry Pal, Not too sure it happens that way, if there is a non confidence vote, I believe a new election is called, Power does not just get handed over.
As pointed out in paragraph four of this article. The non confidence vote would normally trigger an election, however it is more likely that the Lieutenant Governor would as the other parties if they could form a Government. In this case, Horgan would say yes, and **walla** we have a Green/NDP Government.
How long they will govern, will be another story. It will all depend on how they handle themselves, and all the problems plaguing this Province.
“In this case, Horgan would say yes, and **walla** we have a Green/NDP Government.
How long they will govern, will be another story.” I think your last sentence is quite accurate, from watching the debates I got the distinct impression that Horgan & Weaver didn’t like each other very much. Add to that Horgan’s hair trigger temper… I guess time will tell.
Green voters aren’t happy. They expected rogue Green MLA’s working both sides of the aisle based on individual items and how they can shape them. What they got for their vote is a couple of MLA’s painted into an orange corner based on a stupid non-democratic grab at power. I hope they fall on their collective asses and another election is called. The north will get it right. I worry about the Island greenies and the Lower Mainland socialists getting it wrong again. Time to set up a border at Hope. We keep the Okanagan and the Kootenays and you can have the island and Vancouver. They have a totally different set of circumstances that shapes who they voted for. Ours is based on business and resources. Theirs is based on property values and social issues.
So, what happens if the NDP and Greens do not propose any of their MLAs as speaker? Would that not compel the Liberals to nominate one of their own? After all, they would be the government of the day and responsible for the efficient running of the Legislature. It is obviously a way that the NDP-Greens could reduce the Liberal majority and make it 42 to 44. Usually, the speaker is from the majority party, so why break with tradition now?
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