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Saanich South MLA Lana Popham endorses power-sharing agreement with Greens

Saanich South NDP MLA Lana Popham said the decision of her leader John Horgan and B.C. Green Leader Andrew Weaver to deliver their historic power-sharing agreement to Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon demonstrates their readiness to govern and work together.
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Returning Saanich South MLA Lana Popham

Saanich South NDP MLA Lana Popham said the decision of her leader John Horgan and B.C. Green Leader Andrew Weaver to deliver their historic power-sharing agreement to Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon demonstrates their readiness to govern and work together.

“I don’t think there is any danger,” she said. “We are feeling quite positive that this demonstrates to the voters that we are committed to working together to get the best outcome for B.C. and this is part of the process to do so.”

The power-sharing agreement announced Monday and described in additional detail Tuesday calls for a four-year agreement that would see the Greens support a New Democratic minority government under Horgan on matters of supply and confidence.

Specific terms call for a higher carbon tax, steps towards a minimum wage of up to $15, a referendum on proportional representation during the 2018 municipal elections, and a stop to the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline among other items. The agreement also calls for a review of the BC Hydro’s Site C dam project and recognizes the Greens as a third party.

Popham, echoing her caucaus colleague Rob Fleming, said she fully supports the agreement.

“It is an incredible document and it took a lot of work to get to that point,” she said. “It demonstrates that there is a lot of common ground between us and the Greens. We agreed to do a lot of things.”

She – like Fleming – also acknowledged that the possibility of Greens might find themselves voting with the B.C. Liberals on issues that fall outside the scope of the agreement.

Ultimately, the stability of any government depends on supply and confidence and this agreement ensures this stability, she said.

“We have agreed that we would have an authentic debate on those things [outside the agreement] and we may not end on the same page by the time we vote,” she said.

Ultimately, the agreement creates a more deliberative environment in the legislature, leading to authentic public policy making, she said.

Popham made those comments Wednesday morning after a series of events, which many political experts consider historic. Their origins date back to May 9, when voters elected a nearly equally divided provincial legislature, granting neither of the two major parties an outright majority of seats. The B.C. Liberals – who have governed the province since 2001 – saw their majority reduced to 43 seats, one short of fifth straight majority. The B.C. New Democrats won 41 seats, whereas the B.C. Greens won three seats – up from one – to hold the balance of power.

Two weeks of relative inactivity following this stunning result ensued as all parties awaited the counting of abseetee ballots in the Vancouver Island riding of the Courtenay-Comox, where New Democrat Ronna Rae Leonard led B.C. Liberal Jim Benning by nine votes as May 9 turned into May 10.

Behind-the-scenes negotiations intensified after election officials confirmed Courtenay-Comox for the New Democratic column and eventually culminated in Monday’s announcement by Weaver and Horgan that they had struck an agreement to replace the government of Clark under a confidence and supply agreement scheduled to last four years. Under this arrangement, the New Democrats would govern as a minority government with support from the Greens with a combined seat total of 44 – the bare minimum to govern in a legislature of 87 seats.

Under the informal conventions of Canadian parliamentary democracy, Clark remains premier until she has lost the confidence of the legislature. While the agreement between the New Democrats and the Greens struck Monday significantly raised the likelihood of losing power, Clark confronted this prospect by telling the public that she would test the confidence of the legislature, while pleading for co-operation across party lines.

Should Clark lose the vote, she would have to resign. The lieutenant governor could then choose to invite Horgan to form government or schedule another election.

Both moves – Clark’s decision to test the confidence of the legislature and the public presentation of the proposed NDP-Green governing agreement to the lieutenant governor – bear risks.

While Clark’s decision to face the legislature strikes a note of defiance and gives the proposed change of government the most amount of public attention, it could cause a public backlash and personally humiliate Clark, especially if some members of her own caucus choose to voice their displeasure with her leadership by failing to tow the party line.

While Horgan and Weaver’s trip to Government House signals their commitment to each other, they also run the risk of creating the impression they are pressuring Guichon prior to the actual confidence vote.

Popham does not see it that way. “First of all, it is up to the premier to do what she wants to do at this point,” she said. “She can step down or we can use the legislative system. At this point, we have really put our trust in the lieutenant governor to do her job as she see fit.”

Both New Democrats and Greens have been upfront and now it is up to the process to unfold, she said.



Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
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