Premier David Eby says his first order of business — pending the results of judicial recounts — is choosing and swearing in a cabinet and electing a Speaker in a fall sitting of the legislature.
At a new conference Tuesday at the legislature, Eby said he has no plan to introduce new legislation this fall.
“It is my intent, if we can, to have a sitting, get the Speaker elected and get the legislature working for people as well as to get a cabinet selected and sworn in, so that we can start working and delivering for British Columbians right away.”
Eby could not say whether the fall sitting will begin in November or December, as that depends on the timing of the final results of judicial recounts in Kelowna Centre and Surrey-Guildford, where the vote split is razor thin.
The news conference was Eby’s first at the B.C. legislature since the final vote count was released on Monday.
The NDP gained an additional seat in the final count of absentee and special ballots, which saw the riding of Surrey-Guildford flip to the NDP from the Conservatives, giving the NDP 47 seats, the threshold for a majority. The B.C. Conservatives garnered 44 seats and the Greens two seats.
Eby said he advised Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin on Monday that he believed he could gain the confidence of the legislature “and she invited us to form government.” That work is underway, said Eby.
If the government’s next Speaker comes from the NDP, the party will be back down to 46 seats, which could lead to tie votes and deadlocks that could stall future legislation unless there’s a formal or informal deal with the B.C. Greens, according to Royal Roads University political scientist David Black.
Eby said he is open to work with any MLA who is “keen” to maintain the stability of the legislature, address the priorities of British Columbians on cost of living, housing, healthcare and public-safety issues and avoid another provincial election in the next four years.
To that end, the party was meeting with the B.C. Greens on Tuesday, Eby said.
“We are going to continue to have those conversations with them and and the invitation is open to all MLAs, if you’re committed to these things as well as committed to ensuring that this province remains a place welcoming to everybody and where we fight racism and hatred.”
At his own news conference later on Tuesday, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said Eby has been calling his members “looking for someone to become Speaker for them,” but it’s not something he supports at this stage.
“If David Eby wanted to call me and say that he wants to move forward with significant parts of our agenda, maybe there’s something that we could be talking about, but at this stage, you know, I would not be looking at one of our members to be Speaker to support the agenda that he ran on,” said Rustad.
Rustad said the election results were a “major accomplishment” for the B.C. Conservatives, given the party garnered less than two per cent at the polls in 2020 and went from zero to 44 seats in just over 18 months.
While Rustad said the outcome was “not the results I want to see,” he said his party accepts the results “that have been presented to us from Elections B.C.”
Voters said “very loudly” that they want change, said Rustad, noting that after the judicial recounts are done, “our job going forward in Opposition is to make sure that we fight for the values and fight for the things that Conservative Party stands for.”
Rustad said his party is willing to work with the NDP government on any mutual goals, but will “vehemently” oppose a continuation of the NDP government’s “destructive” policies of the last seven years.
If that happens, “we’re going to look at every opportunity possible to bring him down as soon as possible,” said Rustad, who pointed to forestry as an example.
“Forestry, it right now is on its knees,” he said. “It has been consistently attacked by this NDP government.”
The B.C. Conservatives promised during the election to do away with stumpage fees — which are paid when timber is harvested — and put a tax on the final products instead, as well as driving down other costs in the forest sector. (The NDP has maintained that eliminating stumpage fees would heat up softwood lumber disputes with the United States and hurt forestry workers.)
“This government needs to understand that our resource sector is a critical component of what we need to achieve in this province, supporting families, supporting jobs, supporting communities, and, quite frankly, supporting the revenues that are needed,” said Rustad.
Rustad said his party will also ensure Eby sticks to his promise to remove the carbon tax and put “involuntary compassionate treatment” in place for people with both mental health and addictions problems.
“I look forward to the opportunity in the legislature to hold him to account for all of these promises and make sure that he’s living up to the things that he has said he would do for the people in this province,” said Rustad, adding his caucus had its first meeting last week and will be sworn in on Nov. 12.
The NDP, prior to the election, projected a nearly $9-billion budget deficit for the current fiscal year, bringing the provincial debt to $128 billion. The government will have to introduce a budget in the new year.
Eby said he views the election results as a message to him and his government that British Columbians “expect us to do better on a number of key files.”
He said the B.C. Conservatives did a good job of speaking to British Columbians on issues of public safety and affordability, and the B.C. Greens did a good job of speaking about bureaucracy in the health-care system and the need for more initiatives like Community Health Centres.
Pointing to tight races across the province between the NDP and Conservatives and a “concerning” rural-urban divide in vote results — most Conservative votes were in northern B.C. and rural ridings — Eby said his party will “need to work across the aisle on different initiatives to make sure we’re responding to the message that we heard.”
Eby said the government will reach out to rural communities to ensure their views are reflected in the legislature. “It’s a province where we only succeed together.”
Calling his team “one of the most diverse and qualified groups of MLAs that this legislature has ever seen,” Eby noted that it’s the first time the B.C. NDP has been elected to lead the province for three consecutive terms.
“We take that honour very seriously,” he said.
