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Greens set up for power beyond king-making

With ability to support or oppose legislation, Greens maintain the blance of power.
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It was no surprise the B.C. Green Party was willing to support the NDP forming a new minority government.

WhatÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s a little more interesting in the deal between Green leader Andrew Weaver and NDP leader John Horgan is the support is only to keep the NDP in power.

That means the Greens are free to support, or oppose, any legislation a Horgan-led government introduces, as well as any bills proposed by a Christy Clark-led Opposition Liberal Party.

Not only did the results of election nightÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥”where the Liberals won 43 seats, the NDP 41 and the Greens threeÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥”set up Weaver to be king-maker, it also allowed him to strike a deal that cements his ability to call the shots for awhile.

The Greens donÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™t need to be part of a coalition governmentÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥”or even maintain the threat of toppling the governmentÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥”to have an impact. They have more power right now. They can influence what the new government does. The question is, how will they use that power?

Both Horgan and Clark know the support of Weaver and his other two Green MLAs will be needed to passÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥”or thwartÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥”any legislation once the B.C. Legislature resumes sitting and the moves are made to install B.C.Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s first minority government in more than 60 years.

While all the talk leading up to this has been about who Weaver would side with in the NDP-Liberal tug of war for power, Weaver, it appears, was playing the long game. But just how long it goes has yet to be seen.

From the get-go it seemed clear who his choice would be given the platform he ran on in the election campaign. Clark, for her part, would have had to jettison too much to win WeaverÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s support and so, for all the talk about how close they were to making a deal, a Liberal-Green alliance was never really in the cards.

But thereÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s a difference between being given the keys to the car and driving it. And Horgan is about to find that out.

Weaver has already said he and his Green MLAs will supportÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥”and by inference also opposeÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥”any legislation that they feel warrants their support or opposition. As long as it isnÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™t a confidence issueÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥”such as the Throne Speech, the budget and other major supply billsÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥”the Greens are free agents.

What B.C. voters did on election night is remarkable. Normally a party winning just three seats would be shrugged off as an also-ran, a caucus so small it doesnÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™t even qualify for official party status in the Legislature.

The Green PartyÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥”given the closeness of the other two parties seat-wise, is now the most powerful political party in B.C. They may be set to install the NDP to power and keep it there for awhile, but they are also set up to have a sayÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥”if they want itÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥” in every piece of legislation the new government attempts to bring in.

And as for that official party status thing, just watch, I bet the Weaver-Horgan deal gives that change the Green light too.

Alistair Waters is the assistant editor of the Capital News





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