West Vancouver-Sea to Sky voters are likely going to have a disproportionately loud voice in the B.C. legislature in the next term, says a senior lecturer in political science at SFU.
Jeremy Valeriote made history Saturday, becoming the first provincial Green Party member elected in the Lower Mainland.
With nearly all the votes counted Saturday night, the BC NDP finished with 46 seats – one short of a majority government – while the Conservatives finished with 45 and the Green Party, two.
On Tuesday, Premier David Eby told reporters that the Green Party was not yet ready to talk details about how their two MLAs – including Valeriote – might help prop up an NDP minority government in exchange for policy concessions.
But if the NDP are to remain in power, that’s the most likely path forward, said political science professor Sanjay Jeram.
“I think it’s pretty straightforward, especially as we have 2017 in the bag,” he said, referencing the minority government led by NDP Premier John Horgan and propped up by Green Party leader Andrew Weaver. “I’m sure that the elected Green members and Sonia Furstenau and David Eby have had conversations already.”
But, Jeram added, he doesn’t expect Eby to get so smooth a ride from the Greens this time. The relationship between the party leaders isn’t so close as it was in 2017, and it’s likely the NDP will have to negotiate for their support on a case-by-case basis if they want to pass key confidence votes and keep the government from falling.
“They may want to only commit to support the government through the throne speech and the budget if the budget has X, Y and Z,” he said. “I think the Greens might be a little more assertive this time around.”
Tallying all advance and final day ballot boxes, Valeriote garnered 10,221 votes, representing 38.15 per cent of the final count. Conservative Yuri Fulmer, meanwhile, earned 9,554 votes, 35.66 per cent of the final count, while the BC NDP's Jen Ford garnered 7,017 votes and 26.19 per cent of the final count.
