British Columbia politics are fascinating right now, and we’d venture to say that the Cowichan Valley has never been in such a powerful position.
After 16 years of the BC Liberals doing anything they want, since with a majority that’s what you get to do, all of a sudden we, and they, are in a very different position.
One that we think will conclude shortly, given today’s announcement, with Christy Clark and her party ousted from power in favour of an NDP/Green Party combination.
It’s been a long time since Graham Bruce sat in the Liberal government — the Cowichan Valley’s last MLA to be part of the ruling party.
But now it looks as if both the Cowichan Valley and Nanaimo-North Cowichan MLAs, from different parties, stand to play key roles in what’s to come.
Now, it’s not a done deal yet. The Liberals, having earned the most seats, get first crack at governing. Should that government fail in a confidence motion, which seems likely, the Lieutenant Governor then has the responsibility of calling another election or asking the NDP to form government.
The Greens have now said they will back an NDP minority for the next four years on confidence issues, making the latter the likely option the Lieutenant Governor would choose.
The numbers are such, though, that a single vote one way or another swings the balance of power.
We hope this will mean that everyone from all of the parties is going to do their level best to listen to one another and come to agreements. And that they will all put their constituents and what the voters want first. We’re not all going to get what we want, but, if done right, we can all get some of what we want.
And nobody wants to go back to the polls.