Voters failed to deliver a clear result Saturday with the NDP one seat ahead of the Conservatives and a handful of recounts possible.
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Uncertainty looms over B.C. as voters delivered a split decision Saturday and razor-thin margins in at least three ridings where recounts will likely determine whether the NDP or Conservatives form the next government.
There is also the possibility that the balance of power will rest with two newly elected Green party MLAs.
The scenario has echoes of the historic 2017 election, when the B.C. Liberals under Christy Clark won two more seats than the NDP but had government ripped away from them by the Greens.
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As of late Saturday night, the NDP had been elected or were leading in 46 ridings, the Conservatives were holding 45, and the Greens had elected two MLAs even as their leader, Sonia Furstenau, fell to defeat in Victoria-Beacon Hill.
With 93 seats in the B.C. legislature, 47 seats are required for a majority government.
None of the record 40 independents were elected, but some could serve as spoilers in ridings such as Vernon-Lumby where the NDP were narrowly ahead and Independent Kevin Acton had over 15 per cent of the vote.
The results could change in the coming days with the ridings of Juan de Fuca-Malahat, Surrey City Centre and Surrey-Guildford too close to call and possibly subject to automatic recounts. The margin between NDP and Conservative candidates in those ridings is less than a percentage point.
NDP leader David Eby acknowledged that the Conservatives had spoken to some of British Columbians’ frustrations around public safety and affordability.
He nevertheless believes voters delivered a majority for progressive values and committed to working with the Greens, despite his party calling a snap election in 2020 to get out from under such an arrangement.
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“We need to support people with the cost of daily life. We need to make life more affordable for British Columbians and we need to make communities safe for everybody,” he said. “And we will do these things.”
Rustad, meanwhile, promised to keep up the fight and said that the election has forever changed the political landscape in B.C. and believes that the recounts could fall his way.
If not, he said he will make it as hard as possible for the NDP to carry out their agenda and bring them down at the first opportunity.
“We are going to continue this fight over the next days, over the next weeks, over the next months,” he told supporters.
“We’re going to fight every single day to try to make sure that we do everything we can to improve the lives of people in this province.”
For her part, Furstenau expressed disappointment with her defeat but also optimism that her colleagues Jeremy Valeriote of West Vancouver-Sea to Sky and Rob Botterell of Saanich North and the Islands could play a pivotal role in the legislature.
“This is a passing of the torch, and I am going to be there to mentor and guide and lead in any way I can,” she said, while remembering her own role in the 2017 negotiations that saw the Greens partner with the NDP because she couldn’t stomach working with the B.C. Liberals.
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At the end of the day, voters are still left to wonder who will be charged with addressing their concerns around affordability, health care and public safety at the conclusion of an election season characterized more by negative campaigning than policy commitments.
It is now up to Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin to decide who to call on for the first chance to form government.
By convention, it is expected she will give Eby and the NDP the first opportunity but they will either need to gain a seat through recounts or garner the support of the Greens in order to do that.
Voters who headed to the polls in Metro Vancouver and on Vancouver Island contended with an atmospheric river on Saturday that flooded homes and swept away cars.
Elections B.C. said the inclement weather dampened turnout in some ridings, but overall around 57 per cent of British Columbians came out to cast a ballot. About one million of those ballots, representing around 28 per cent of registered voters, were cast in advance polls.
Read more of our B.C. election coverage in these municipalities:
• Vancouver
• Surrey
• Burnaby
• Richmond and Delta
• Langley
• North Vancouver and West Vancouver
• Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and New Westminster
• Maple Ridge and Port Moody
• Abbotsford and Chilliwack
• Okanagan and around B.C.
• Vancouver Island
RACE FOR B.C.: Follow our coverage of the 2024 B.C. election campaign HERE. Not yet a subscriber? Please click HERE for a special subscription offer.
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