It’s been a long 7 weeks since the BC provincial elections. Happily those of us living in BC can finally say Goodbye Felicia to one of the worst Premiers our province has ever had to suffer.
At 5pm this evening, the BC Legislature asked for a vote of confidence on Liberal leader Christy Clark’s budget proposal. It was denied 44 to 42 (Ms. Clark is unable to cast a vote in this motion). Ms Clark now had to go and have a discussion with the Lt. Governor of BC, Judith Guichon, about the options left and if she wanted to pursue another election or give the NDP/Green coalition a chance to form a government. She chose to accept defeat. The chance to form a government will be given the NDP/Greens. When the election gave the Liberals minority government, The New Democratic Party with 41 seats went to the Green Party who won 3 seats and talked turkey for their votes in Parliament.
How did all this begin? On May 9th of this year a general election failed to elect the Liberal Party, led by Christy Clark, to a majority government, only a minority one. The Liberal Party won 42 seats, but needed 44 for a majority.. This was the first time in donkey’s years (16 of them) that the Liberals had failed to win. And it’s all Ms. Clarke’s fault. She was one of the worst Premiers my province had ever had. As Martyn Brown, writing for The Georgia Straight puts it:
It only reinforces Christy Clark’s ultimate Achilles heel: she is one of those rare leaders who is actually everything she appears to be: untrustworthy, hypocritical, unprincipled, and partisan-political to the core.
I should note that Mr Brown is himself a Liberal and has served three different Liberal leaders. His piece is a must read. AND he wrote his article a few days before the scandalous (and cribbed from the NDP platform) Throne Speech was made. Portions quoted here:
•a new rent-to-own scheme to help 50,000 renters become homeowners;
•$1 billion in new spending to create 60,000 additional new child care spaces;
•a $5 hike to the carbon tax starting in 2019, offset with a decrease to PST;
•a $100 per month increase to welfare rates;
•banning corporate and union donations;
•a referendum on electoral reform;
•abandoning the need for a referendum on any new TransLink levies;
•$50 million in additional spending for new electric vehicle charging stations.
www.biv.com/...
The NDP platform promises, brought out in April of this year:
- The NDP is also promising to build 114,000 rental and co-op homes over 10 years and offer an annual rental home credit of $400 for all BC renters.
- $10/day childcare, with no fee for families with annual incomes below $40,000 a year.
- create a new climate action rebate cheque
- raise income assistance and disability rates by $100/month
- ban corporate, union, and out-of-province donations to parties, and set limits on individual contributions.
- pledge to hold a referendum on changing BC’s first-past-the-post voting system to a proportional system instead.
- funding the 40% of the capital costs as required for every phase of the Mayors’ Council 10-Year Vision for Metro Vancouver Transportation.
There is much more to the NDP platform, available here:
That plagiarized Throne Speech placed Mr Horgan in the strange position of having to vote against his own platform, but he and his Party and the Greens, led by Andrew Weaver did so. And now we will get to see if the NDP/Greens can lead BC for the next four years. It’s possible but not probable. Previous coalitions have not lasted long. There is no margin for losing even a single vote...the NDP/Greens have only 44 seats compared to 43 the Liberals hold.
Still...onward!