- Source: 2017 British Columbian government formation
The events leading up to the formation of the government of British Columbia took place between May 9 and July 18, 2017, following the 41st British Columbia general election. Neither the incumbent Liberal Party or the New Democratic Party, the two main parties in the legislature, were able to win a majority threshold of 44 seats, resulting in a hung parliament and uncertainty as to who would form government. By convention the incumbent Liberals, led by Premier Christy Clark, continued to govern despite being one seat short of a parliamentary majority. Both the Liberals and the New Democrats attempted to persuade the Green Party to use their balance of power to either support or defeat the Clark government. The Green Party eventually entered into a confidence and supply agreement with the New Democrats to support a New Democratic government led by John Horgan, in exchange for the government's support of some Green Party campaign interests, such as electoral reform.
General election
The 2017 British Columbia general election took place on May 9 to fill the 87 seats of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly. By the end of the night, no party had won a majority, with the incumbent Liberals leading and holding 43 seats, one short of the required 44 seat majority threshold. As absentee ballots still had to be counted, which had the potential to flip some of the closer constituency elections, no winner was projected. Absentee ballot counting and some electoral recounts occurred up until May 24, but despite the close margins, there were no changes to the seat count reported on May 9, leaving the legislature with 43 Liberal seats, 41 New Democratic seats, and 3 Green seats. Technically, the Liberals had a plurality of seats but were in a precarious position as the two opposition parties together outnumbered them in the legislature by one seat.
Initial statements and negotiations
On the night of the election, Christy Clark made a victory speech of sorts, acknowledging that despite winning the popular vote and a plurality of seats, their mandate was weaker, and they would have to collaborate with the other parties to satisfy the British Columbian electorate. Andrew Weaver, whose Green Party now held the balance of power, stated that he would negotiate with both parties in hopes that the next government would be supportive of some of the Green Party's initiatives. At around 12:30 am on May 10, John Horgan stated that "we've waited 16 years for a new government and we have to ask you to wait a little bit longer", confident that he would be able to defeat a minority Liberal government in a hung parliament. On May 29, Horgan and Weaver announced that they had reached a confidence and supply agreement where the Green Party would support an NDP government on budgets and matters of confidence. Despite the announcement, Clark did not resign and argued that it was her duty to attempt to maintain confidence of the legislative assembly, although admitting she would likely be unsuccessful.
First session of the Legislative Assembly
The 41st Parliament of British Columbia was first convened on June 22, with Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Judith Guichon delivering the speech from the throne on behalf of Christy Clark. The speech mentioned 48 initiatives that the Liberal government were planning to work towards, 30 of which were not part of the Liberal's campaign platform. This drew criticism from many BC Liberal politicians, who saw the move as a cheap attempt to stay in power by pandering to the opposition parties, rather than sticking with the Liberal's electoral promises.
On June 28, John Horgan introduced a motion of no confidence against the Liberal government. It passed the next day by a vote of 44 to 42. Despite the initial criticism of the speech from many Liberal MLAs, all Liberal MLAs (except Steve Thomson, who abstained as the speaker of the legislature) voted against the motion, while all NDP and Green MLAs voted in favour of defeating the government.
Upon her government's defeat, Christy Clark requested that the lieutenant governor dissolve parliament so another election could be held. Despite Clark initially claiming that she would not seek another immediate election, she argued that no party could form a stable government with a one-seat margin in the legislature. Judith Guichon refused the request and granted John Horgan a chance to form government instead. Horgan's cabinet was sworn in on July 18, with Horgan becoming the 36th premier of British Columbia. Ten days later, Clark resigned as the BC Liberal party leader, with Rich Coleman being appointed as the interim leader.
Aftermath
Following the defeat of the Liberal government on June 29, the speaker of the legislative assembly Steve Thomson resigned, leaving the house without a permanent speaker for the remainder of the legislative session. The speaker is bound by constitutional convention to abstain from voting on legislation entirely or voting for the status quo in the event of a tiebreak; therefore, electing a New Democratic or Green speaker would weaken their status in parliament. To avoid this, NDP House Leader Mike Farnworth approached Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas, a critic of Christy Clark's handling of the transfer of power, to become the speaker. Plecas agreed and was elected speaker on September 8 during the first meeting of the second legislative session. One day later, the BC Liberals expelled Plecas from their caucus, with Rich Coleman claiming that he had betrayed his constituents and his Liberal colleagues. Plecas sat as an independent for the remainder of the parliamentary term.
Judith Guichon delivered a throne speech on behalf of the NDP government on September 8, 2017, outlining several priorities that were agreed upon by the NDP and the Greens in their confidence and supply agreement, including campaign finance reform, electoral reform, and launching an innovation commission to encourage investments in technology.
On February 8, 2018, the BC Liberals held their leadership election to replace Christy Clark, which was won by Andrew Wilkinson, the MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena.
In October 2019, Andrew Weaver left the Green Party to sit as an independent, citing a family health issue and personal matters, although he did not withdraw his confidence in the NDP government.
The Horgan ministry went on to govern the province from July 2017 until October 2020, when Horgan called a snap election, arguing that the NDP needed a clearer mandate to continue governing through the COVID-19 pandemic. Horgan was criticized by some for calling the election early, as it violated the terms of the confidence and supply agreement with the Greens, who did not want an election to be called until the fixed-election date of October 16, 2021. Despite this, the general election held on October 24, 2020, resulted in a NDP majority government, with the party winning a record 57 seats (65.5%) in the legislative assembly.
See also
1941 British Columbian government formation