British Columbia’s governing New Democrats still have a major hurdle to overcome before they can get to work on their agenda, and it may be a tricky one to solve.
Under the rules of the B.C. legislature, no business can proceed without selecting an MLA to serve as speaker of the house.
The governing party often chooses one of its own members for the job, but the NDP holds just 47 seats, the bare minimum for a majority, and the speaker’s role is to remain neutral.
Under B.C.’s provincial constitution, the speaker can vote to break ties, but centuries of Westminster parliamentary convention dictate that those votes are in favour of maintaining the status quo or in favour of continuing a debate.
“That pushes the speaker into a more partisan role than they are accustomed to playing, so that’s a real challenge,” explained UBC political scientist Stewart Prest.
In 2017, when the NDP formed a minority government, the New Democrats broke a similar deadlock by recruiting former Abbotsford South BC Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas for the job.
The speaker’s role comes with an additional salary of $59,766 per year.
Finding a speaker from the opposition benches appears to be a remote possibility this time, with BC Conservative Leader John Rustad saying his party won’t volunteer someone for the job.
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Political strategist and former BC Liberal campaign manager Mike McDonald said if anyone from Rustad’s caucus took the job “it would be seen as treacherous.”
“Given that the Conservatives are new — 36 out of 44 MLAs are brand new to the legislature — they owe their election to the Conservative brand, to John Rustad. I would find it very difficult imagining that anyone would go,” he told Global’s Focus BC.
Several Conservative MLAs, however, came to the party late — joining Rustad’s slate in September after the last-minute implosion of BC United, fueling speculation they could be candidates for the speaker’s role.
That possibility, too, appears to be fading, however.
Delta South MLA Ian Paton, who joined the Conservatives after BC United’s collapse, said the NDP had reached out to him about the position.
Paton said he was “flattered and honoured” by the offer, but that it was also a non-starter.
“I am not here to give the NDP any breathing room when it comes to voting in the legislature,” he said. “I am here to do the best job I can to represent my constituents of Delta South and I feel the best place for me to do that is in my seat as a part of the Official Opposition and standing up in question period and debating bills.”
Other former BC United MLAs have splashed cold water on the speaker opportunity, including Teresa Wat and Peter Milobar.
That leaves the BC Greens, who Prest said may be unwilling to give up one of their two MLAs, leaving the other to cover all their business in the legislature.
“It would put an enormous amount of pressure on a single MLA to cover off,” Prest said.
Instead, Prest said the NDP may seek to hammer out an agreement with the Greens to back some of the government’s agenda, allowing the New Democrats to elect one of their own members as speaker.
That could come by way of a formalized confidence and supply agreement, or as a more informal deal, he said.
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In exchange, the NDP could agree to move on some of the Greens’ policy priorities, Prest said.
“Given the closeness of the Greens and the NDP in terms of their actual platform on a number of areas, whether you’re looking at health issues or whether we’re looking at similar philosophies or goals with regards to housing, with regards to the environment … I would think they should be able to come to some sort of understanding, even if it is that more informal style,” he said.
Choosing an NDP speaker may also come with less risk than the seat numbers in the legislature suggest.
The party is expected to face just a single confidence vote next year — the budget.
The government also has the capacity to send contentious legislation to committees, where it holds a stronger majority.
Eby has yet to set a timeline for the return to the legislature, saying Tuesday that Elections BC would first need to complete its judicial recounts in two close ridings.
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