BURST
Fireworks are bound to ensue when B.C.’s 93 MLAs converge in Victoria for the fall legislative session Monday.
The governing NDP is in the middle of a fight with B.C.’s largest public-sector union as opposition parties are grappling with internal strife, new leaders and the fight for relevance.
The NDP is coming in on the defensive as the ongoing B.C. Government Employees’ Union strike risks alienating those who usually vote orange. Comments made by Premier David Eby on temporary foreign workers also caused tension within caucus and the party base.
There is also the issue that the government is projected to run an $11.6 billion deficit and had to push back legislation to reform the Heritage Conservation Act after municipalities complained about a lack of consultation.
Government House Leader Mike Farnworth said Thursday there are 18 pieces of legislation for this fall, including a bill to ease the construction of the North Coast Transmission Line that will be introduced Oct. 20.
“Nearly all of them will be tabled in the first week. They have been drafted and will be on the order paper, starting the day we go back and then there are already three bills on the order paper,” said Farnworth.
“We are framing this session very much about dealing with what matters to British Columbians, which is growing the economy, protecting health care and dealing with issues around affordability and good governance.”
He said he is not concerned about BCGEU pickets shutting down the government operations, and the job action would not result in an injunction.
For the Conservatives and party leader John Rustad, the summer was long and contentious with a gruelling leadership review ending with allegations of ballot stuffing meant to boost Rustad’s approval numbers and the firing of several people allegedly involved.
The Conservative leader booted Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Elenore Sturko from caucus immediately after the leadership review over allegations that she was trying to oust him. He also fired staffer Lindsay Shepherd over comments she made about the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation flag.
Conservative House Leader Á’a:líya Warbus wasn’t available for an interview, but David Black, a Royal Roads University political communications professor, said it is clear Rustad has problems no matter where he looks.
Black believes that Rustad’s leadership could get even shakier.
“Historically as we know, the centre-right has functioned as a big tent coalition and been remarkably effective at winning elections and governing going back decades. This is not a big tent party, yet it’s functioning in a space where it’s built structurally for a big tent centre-right coalition,” Black said.
“So I think his leadership can get brittle. I think there’s still a lot of tumult and questioning of his leadership, both from his right and, as far as there’s a kind of centre-right in the party, from that too.”
As for the Greens and the new OneBC party, the four MLAs who make up the two smaller parties are dealing with internal problems.
For the Greens, at issue is how they meld the fiery populism of their new 25 year-old leader, Emily Lowan, with the old-guard represented by their two MLAs, Rob Botterell and Jeremy Valeriote.
Lowan has talked about renegotiating, or even tearing up, the Cooperation and Responsible Government Accord signed by the NDP and Greens last March, which requires the government to work toward implementing some shared priorities in exchange for the Greens supporting the NDP on certain confidence votes, such as the budget and throne speech.
Botterell doesn’t think there will be problems between the caucus and the new party leader, and they’re working to come up with a shared path forward.
“We’re the elected MLAs, Emily has just had a huge success in becoming the leader, and brings a whole lot of positive energy and background to it,” he said. “So it’s not going to be either or, this or that — we work on a consensus basis in the green caucus, and we’ll continue to do that.”
OneBC, meanwhile, will have to find its own place with MLAs Tara Armstrong and Dallas Brodie, alongside independent Jordan Kealy.
Black said he doesn’t believe OneBC or Kealy will gain much traction, but is curious to see how Sturko fares, who will have just one opportunity every two weeks in question period.
“She’s a relatively seasoned politician, and I think insofar as a centre emerges in kind of B.C. politics, I will be looking to her to articulate where that might be,” he said.
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