As Premier David Eby prepares to face the media Tuesday morning, he used a radio appearance to promise improvements in health care, especially when it comes to rural areas.
Speaking on CKNW, Eby said health care will be among the top issues of his government once the legislature returns.
"Particularly around the closure of rural hospitals," he said. "When I look at the map from the election...I see that in rural areas our party really did struggle to hold on to seats and make in-roads, with some notable exceptions. But overall, that was my take-away. I can't help but think that a huge piece of that was rural hospitals and making sure that health care is there for people right across the province."
The final vote count shows with B.C. NDP with 47 seats, enough for a bare majority. But the party won just three ridings east of Hope: Vernon-Lumby (Harwinder Sandhu), Kootenay-Monashee (Steve Morissette) and Kootenay-Central (Brittny Anderson).
Its performance in rural parts of the province gets better when coast-facing ridings on the provincial mainland (North Coast Haida Gwaii / Powell-River Sunshine Coast) and Vancouver Island (Mid-Island Pacific Rim, Cowichan Valley and Juan de Fuca-Malahat) are included. But the Conservative Party of B.C. painted large swaths of the province blue and two cabinet members representing rural ridings, Nathan Cullen (Water, Land and Resource Stewardship) and Roly Russell (parliamentary secretary for rural development), lost in Bulkley Valley-Stikine and Boundary-Similkameen respectively.
Eby also used his appearance to send a signal toward the B.C. Greens and their leader Sonia Furstenau on health care.
"I think the (B.C. Greens) really spoke to people on issues around our health care system, especially things like community health centre and other priorities they put forward."
The B.C. Greens' platform proposes the creation of 93 such centres within one year and health care experts have suggested that health care could be an area of cooperation between Eby's and Furstenau's respective party. But that was before the final vote count showed the B.C. NDP picking up the extra seat for a bare majority.
This said, Eby nonetheless struck a cooperative, even chastened tone in this interview. While Eby said he was "grateful to have that majority," he also acknowledged that "it's a very narrow" one.
"I think that one of the messages I took from the results, people were looking for answers from different parties, from the (B.C. Greens), from the (Conservative Party of B.C.) and the goal that I have is to work with MLAs that are interested in delivering for British Columbians on these important issues."
In addition to health care, Eby also singled out affordability and public safety with Eby acknowledging that Conservatives spoke to those issues. But if Eby signaled a willingness to work with other parties, he also warned against gamesmanship aimed against bringing down the legislature at the first opportunity.
The fate of the legislature also hinges on the choice of speaker. Eby praised the B.C. NDP's Raj Chouhan, who had held the role prior to dissolution, but also left open the possibility of another person taking the job, including members of the opposition.
"Now, we have people on our bench who certainly could fill the role," he said. "It's certainly possible that the Greens or the Conservatives could fill that role," he added.
Eby also used the occasion to signal to recall the legislature in the near future. When asked whether a fall session will take place, Eby said "I expect so" in adding that the "logistical work" for such a fall session is currently underway. Once a cabinet is in place, a fall legislative session can go ahead.
"We will have to swear in a cabinet, which I would like to do as soon as possible."
"I think it would be impossible for me to come out from this election without recognizing that our wings were clipped. But the same wind that clipped our wings is the one that is going to drive us to stay focused on those priorities."
He later clarified during a media appearance in Victoria that he meant to say fall sitting, the difference being that a fall sitting would not involve the introduction of legislation.
