Premier David Eby says “nothing’s off the table” in potential talks with the BC Green Party over a minority government, but that the Greens aren’t yet ready for negotiations.
Eby made the comments Tuesday, as the Greens revealed Sonia Furstenau, who lost her seat in Saturday’s election, will stay on as party leader.
“The Greens have advised us they are not ready yet to engage in those conversations, but we are preparing for what we hope is the likelihood, the outcome of the counting, without taking anything for granted, we are making sure we are ready to go,” Eby said from Vancouver.
“Nothing is off the table, we will have those conversations and we will find a way to make the legislature work for British Columbians on the priorities they sent us back to Victoria to work on.”
Any potential talks between the two parties may prove to be a moot point, pending the outcome of Elections BC’s final vote count.
The preliminary count left the NDP with 46 seats, the BC Conservatives with 45 seats and the BC Greens with two seats. Forty-seven seats are needed for a majority. But two races where the NDP lead by fewer than 100 votes are headed to a recount, and Elections BC says it has also yet to count nearly 50,000 absentee and mail-in ballots.
The results are close enough that either the NDP or the Conservatives could find themselves with a majority after the final count.
But should Eby be returned to head a minority government, he said he was committed to finding a way to work with the Greens.
Eby did not directly answer when asked how he would overcome any bad blood remaining from the NDP’s decision in 2020 to break its Confidence and Supply Agreement with the Greens and hold an early provincial election.
But he did respond to questions about the party targeting Green voters during the election campaign.
“In the mirror, the Greens were encouraging people to reject the NDP and vote for the Greens, that’s how election campaigns go,” Eby said.
“But one thing I am certain of is that British Columbians voted in the majority for a progressive vision for our province, and we have a lot of shared values in common with the Green Party that format foundation for the conversations we will have to have with them.”
The Greens, meanwhile, said Tuesday that Sonia Furstenau would continue to lead the party, at least for now.
Furstenau was defeated on Saturday in her attempt to unseat NDP Children and Family Development Minister Grace Lore in the Victoria-Beacon Hill riding.
“British Columbians demonstrated that they don’t trust any one party with 100% of the power,” Furtsenau said in a statement.
“They need our next government to leave the negativity and toxicity of the campaign behind, get down to work and start delivering for them. I am prepared to provide guidance and counsel as our party and our province enter this new chapter.”
Both elected Green MLAs, Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky and Rob Botterell in Saanich North and the Islands, backed Furstenau’s decision to stay on as leader.
The BC Conservatives, meanwhile, haven’t ruled out trying to woo the Greens, should the minority situation hold up after all votes are counted.
Elections BC has scheduled the final count for Oct. 26 to Oct. 28.