BC Greens face stickhandling act in deciding which party it would back

If that seat flips to the Liberals after the final vote tally in two weeks, Clark will regain a bare majority government – even without the Greens’ support.

Key seats that ended the night too close to call include Courtenay-Comox, where the NDP’s Ronna-Rae Leonard holds a razor-thin nine-vote lead over Liberal Jim Benninger.

“Tonight is the beginning of something very different”. “They nearly elected me the last time and now look where we are …”

BC Liberal Party leader Christy Clark will remain in charge of this province despite her party clinching a minority government, with recounts possible in some close ridings. Judith Guichon asked her to stay on as premier.

The BC NDP under John Horgan took 41 seats and the Greens led by Andrew Weaver picked up three seats – more than ever before. “We know how to compromise”. Despite Weaver’s comments, any independent look at the parties’ platforms would find the Greens have much more in common with the NDP.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. and Green Leader Andrew Weaver was among the first in line at a middle school in his Victoria-area constituency of Oak Bay-Gordon Head, surrounded by excited students.

“In his short time he’s been leader, he has transformed the image of the Green Party and we’ll have to see whether the first-past-the-post puts a brake on whatever momentum he may have got from that”, Prof.

The legislative minority means the tiny Green party will hold the balance of power as Premier Christy Clark tries to push forward with pipeline expansion plans and a promise to apply a levy to thermal coal exports to the U.S. in retaliation for United States duties on softwood lumber.

“Everything is give and take”, Weaver said.

In addition, the absentee ballots have not been counted yet, which means that the final count by Elections BC between May 22 and 24 could still change the outcome. British Columbians voted for action on climate change. Forty-four seats was needed for a majority.

Despite boasting about B.C. having Canada’s strongest economy and four balanced budgets – true – Clark’s Liberals lost four cabinet ministers, her popular vote dropped and a comfortable majority turned into a minority.

Our interactive results tracker above will update in real time as votes are counted.

Horgan was not ready to concede defeat, however, saying that British Columbians have waited 16 years for a new government and will have to wait a bit longer until all the votes are counted.

“So that interpretation is not that the Greens hurt the NDP and allowed Christy Clark to win, but in fact that the NDP would have done worse in this election had it not been for the Green vote”.

It has been a big night for the Green Party picking up a couple seats on the Island.

Forty Liberals were elected to the legislature compared with 38 New Democrats, with the NDP gaining ground in the seat-rich Lower Mainland where it had focused its campaign.

Her government has banned workplace requirements that require women to wear high heels, a move credited to Weaver’s initiative.

The Liberals are not considering electoral reform.