BC NDP’s reduced caucus meets for first time since election win

Premier David Eby and his new caucus have met for the first time since securing a slim majority government in the provincial election.

The group of 47 met face-to-face at the B.C. legislature on Wednesday morning.

Eby is managing a reduced bench, after 15 incumbent MLAs lost their seat in the election, including five cabinet ministers.

3:21 B.C. Premier David Eby lays out next steps following election win

Those returning to the legislature said they heard the message voters sent.

“The public spoke loudly, and we listened. I always think of myself as a bridge builder, I don’t build walls, I build bridges. And we have bridges to build here,” said Gary Begg, whose narrow victory in the riding of Surrey-Guildford gave the NDP the 47th seat it needed to secure a majority.

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With just enough seats to hold the barest majority in the legislature, MLAs also acknowledged they have no room for error when it comes to votes in the house.

“There is the added pressure of making sure we stay united together, and be here as a untied front,” Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows MLA Lisa Beare said.

“But I can tell you from that room full of people we have a great new bunch of MLAs who are ready to get started.”

1:17 B.C. Opposition leader addresses whether he’ll try and topple NDP, allow a Conservative to be speaker

University of the Fraser Valley political scientist Hamish Telford said the tight majority will be a “real challenge” for Eby.

“There is no margin for error — so people can’t miss a ferry, you can’t have a cabinet minister at a meeting in Ottawa, and then life happens, people get sick, people go on (maternity) leave or parental leave, and you can’t control for that,” he said.

“If they lose a person for these reasons they are down to a minority situation, and the conservative … seem very eager to trigger another election.”

Eby will also need to keep his MLAs happy, as he can’t risk having one of them defect to another party or choose to sit as an independent, Teldord said.

He added that the situation means the NDP will want to maintain a good relationship with the BC Greens, who hold two seats in the legislature.

He said the government may want to try and secure a formal confidence and supply agreement like the 2017 NDP minority government did, in order to buy itself some breathing room.

Eby has yet to appoint his new cabinet or clarify who will become the speaker of the legislature.