B.C. Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau Wednesday declared her party's platform as the "starting place" for any discussions when it comes to supporting any future minority government.
Initial counts show the B.C. NDP leading in 46 seats, the Conservative Party of B.C. with 45 seats and the B.C. Greens with two seats. Forty-seven seats are needed for a majority.
Facing the media for the first time since Saturday's unclear election outcome, Furstenau declined to answer whether she would prefer a confidence-and-supply agreement like the one her party struck in 2017 with the B.C. NDP or work with one of the other parties on a case-by-case basis. She also declined to identify any specific policies that would earn another party the support of the B.C. Greens in pointing to her party's platform.
"The platform really tries to understand why we are getting the outcome that we are getting in B.C. right now and from that place of understanding, the platform offers solutions that are rooted in how government can be more effective at delivering the services it should be delivering," she said.
Its central organizing principle is a well-being framework that foregoes traditional measures of economic growth. It calls for a future free of fossil fuels with B.C. becoming a clear energy leader, additional public spending on housing and transit among other areas to be financed through higher taxes on fossil fuel companies and housing speculators and a more localized health care system centred on community health centres among other steps.
It also calls for legislation implementing an unspecified system of proportional representation system for the 2028 election followed by a referendum after the second PR election. New Zealand held such a referendum in 2011 with voters saying they would like to keep the mixed-member PR system.
Furstenau said she had spoken with Premier David Eby Wednesday morning, but not with Rustad. Furstenau, who declined to give details about her conversation with Eby, said she did not take Rustad's call because she did not recognize the phone number. She also signalled that she won't talk with Rustad until he demonstrates "what kind of leadership he has at this point" in pointing to comments from Conservative candidates.
"I have concerns about statements his candidates have made and positions his party has taken on many issues, including climate change," she said. "My focus right now is on supporting our two local MLAs and engaging in meaningful conversations about how the people of B.C. can be served until the final vote is in."
Without mentioning any specific names, she added some statements made by Conservatives are "problematic, dehumanizing, racist, homophobic."
Furstenau's appearance came in the presence of MLAs-elect, Rob Botterell and Jeremy Valeriote. Furstenau said their election delighted her in noting that Valeriote gives the Greens a presence in Metro Vancouver for the first time. Botterell, meanwhile, confirms that a riding can stay 'Green' as Botterell follows former MLA Adam Olsen.
Her appearance also follows the party's Tuesday (Oct. 22) that Furstenau would be staying on as party leader despite losing her bid for MLA in the Victoria-Beacon Hill riding.
If Furstenau did not tip her hand, the prospect of her party holding the balance of power has already drawn a range of reactions and recommendations.
Speaking with Black Press Media before Furstenau's appearance, Peter Milobar, a former B.C. United MLA, now the Conservative MLA-elect for Kamloops Centre, cautioned against too much speculation at this time in pointing out that two seats are subjects of automatic recounts with the counting set to take place Oct. 26-28.
That is also when officials will count absentee and mail-in-ballots.
"Conversations are dramatically different if it is the current seat count, versus we flip one, or we flip two, or if we flip three," he said. "So I think we just need to let the process to play out."
If the seat count were to stay the same, Milobar expressed hope that the B.C. Greens keep an open mind.
"If the Green Party is sincere about saying they want to be the balance of power ... was that with an asterix, was that only with one party? Or was it that they were willing to try to see in discussions, if there is a way forward on some broader issues, to find some work of working relationship? But we are a long ways away from that."
Eby said Tuesday that his party has reached out to the B.C. Greens, but was told that the party is not yet ready for talks, something Milobar can understand.
"Let's wait and see what happens with the weekend and the votes and what the seats are."
He also raised questioned about Eby's sincerity toward the B.C. Greens. Milobar said Eby "flip-flopped on all sorts of things" near and dear to Greens such as the carbon tax and decriminalization among other issues.
Chris Gardner, president of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, which had endorsed the Conservative Party of B.C. prior to the election, said the re-count might change one seat in favour of the Conservatives.
"The likely outcome is an NDP government supported by the Green Party," Gardner said. "We are deeply concerned about that. If you can scan quickly through the Green Party platform, what you are going to find is a commitment to no new LNG projects, no new pipelines, no new mines, a much smaller forestry sector, increasing the carbon tax, new taxes on home-owners, new taxes on business, new taxes on income," he said.
Torrance Coste, associate director with the B.C. Wilderness Committee, said it is hard to say what the Greens must include in any future agreement with the B.C. NDP.
"The B.C. Greens have a lot of leverage, but it's unclear how much the NDP would be willing to grant before saying no, and potentially triggering another election," Coste said.
"A huge temptation would be to push for electoral reform -- after all, if recognizing the majority of voters support progressive values is a priority for the NDP, then bringing in a form of democracy that ensures the majority of votes are always, not just sometimes, reflected in the legislature would make sense."
But the B.C. NDP might not go for such an arrangement, he added. "(While) a form of proportional representation would likely ensure the (Conservative Party of B.C.) doesn't ever form a majority, it would also probably mean the 2020-2024 legislature saw the last NDP majority government as well," he said.
He added that past commitments by the B.C. NDP around protecting old-growth forest and prioritizing biodiversity above resource extractions very much align with Green policies and could serve as the basis for a potential confidence-and-supply-agreement.
"If I was advising them today, I say, 'PR or Bust,'" Andrew Reeve, press secretary and deputy director of communications for the B.C. United caucus, said. "That demand would be even more powerful today than it would have been in 2017 because the B.C. NDP can't go back to the polls," he said.
"Without the Independents running again, Conservatives have several easy seats to pick up."
If the B.C. NDP does not agree to PR, then the Greens should "just sit back and get final say on every piece of NDP legislation."
Reeve said the B.C. Greens signed away leverage when they had agreed to a confidence-and-supply agreement back in 2017. Eby's predecessor John Horgan prematurely terminated that agreement in 2020.
Greg Millard, former chair of political science at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, said the "most rationale path" for the B.C. Greens would be to sign such an agreement.
"However, there's clearly some bad blood there," he said. "Clearly, the Green Party feels a little bit burned from their experience. That being the case, we don't know how it is going to play out. They might take an issue-by-issue approach."
Millard, meanwhile, is not so sure that the B.C. Greens could find common cause with the Conservatives. "Politics makes strange bed-fellows and those would be some of the strangest bed-fellows imaginable -- a Green Party committing to a premier who does not believe in climate change. That just seems implausible."
