The B.C. Green Party has reached an agreement to support the NDP party and “create a stable minority government.”
The announcement was made jointly by the party leaders, Andrew Weaver and John Horgan, Monday afternoon.
Negotiations between the Greens, NDP and Christy Clark’s Liberals have been ongoing since the May 9 election, which resulted in a minority government.
John Horgan and Andrew Weaver held a news conference Monday to announce their intention to use their parties' combined 44 seats in the provincial Legislature to end Christy Clark's reign as premier.
I am thrilled to be working with John Horgan and the @bcndp so that BC can have a stable minority government for four years. #bcpoli https://t.co/GhQjKxtUkw
— Andrew Weaver (@AJWVictoriaBC) May 29, 2017
"We can do great things when we work together. We can do great things across party lines when we have a government in place that's anxious to do that," Horgan said.
The deal is not for a coalition government; Weaver said the parties' plan is to demonstrate a minority government can operate stably for a full four-year term.
"We wanted to maintain a minority situation to show British Columbians that it can work," Weaver said.
A few mins ago, I joined @AJWVictoriaBC to announce an agreement between our parties. Thank you to all the voters who made this possible. pic.twitter.com/ifQ4Qk8IJf
— John Horgan (@jjhorgan) May 29, 2017
"We have the majority support of members in the legislature and that will be up to the premier and the Lieutenant Governor to discuss," Horgan said.
Weaver said his office informed Clark of the outcome of its negotiations after trying to reach an agreement with both the Liberals and NDP.
Following the announcement, Clark will have to recall the legislature to test the confidence of the house. If the B.C. Greens and NDP defeat the current government in a confidence motion, Clark would need to decide between resigning or asking for a new election.
The election did not produce a clear winner in the 87-seat legislature, with the Liberals taking 43 seats, the NDP 41 and the Greens three, leaving the Green party with the balance of power.
The 2017 election marks the first since 1952 that B.C. has voted in a minority government.
