The political roller coaster continues in Victoria as the BC Liberals presented a letter asking for clarification from Speaker of the House, Steve Thomson, on his role.
“I think that the workability of a reconfigured parliament with an NDP – Green government based on the number is going to be challenging,” said Finance Minister Mike de Jong, talking about the 43-43 tie there would be with an alliance MLA as speaker.
De Jong wants details on the speaker’s role during tiebreakers and debates before Thursday’s confidence vote.
“They are desperately trying to cling to power or to have an election which they profess not to want,” said NDP House Leader Mike Farnworth, adding this is an example of the Liberals playing more games.
He says the constitution is very clear that the speaker can cast the casting vote.
There are no details yet on how the NDP see the speaker when it comes to the situations addressed in the letter.
In a statement, Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver agreed with Farnworth and said Christy Clark appears intent on not making the legislature work.
“If the concerns around the speaker cannot be resolved, it will be because the BC Liberals have once again chosen to put their own political self-interest ahead of the interests of British Columbians.”
He said that the speaker will be truly impartial only if he doesn’t step down when the Liberals fall.
Accounts due Wednesday
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Mike de Jong said the BC Liberals will release detailed accounting on Wednesday of how they would pay for the dozens of promises announced in last week’s throne speech.
De Jong said he’s confident in the numbers although they are unaudited.
“We’ve got an awfully good track record when it comes to financial statements that have received a clean bill of health.
The slew of new promises are worth at least $1.7 billion in spending not accounted for in February’s budget.
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