This morning, following the May 9 nail-biter election, which left her Liberal Party one seat short of a majority, Clark met with the Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon, who asked her to continue as premier.
A final vote count won’t be concluded until May 24, and there will be recounts on close ridings, all of which could tip the balance either way.
According to the preliminary vote, Clark’s Liberals lost four seats, bringing them down to 43. The NDP won 41 seats and the Green Party added two to come up to three.
“There is no doubt that last night’s election results will go down in the history books,” Clark told reporters at a press conference Wednesday, May 10.
“British Columbians sent a very strong message to all sides of the Legislature: They want us to work together collaboratively and across partisan lines.”
Four Liberal cabinet ministers lost their seats, and the NDP managed to capture six of the nine seats in Surrey.
Clark was asked repeatedly by reporters Wednesday if she took any responsibility for the fact her party failed to gain a majority. Clark took no responsibility, saying it was the Green Party’s surge that caused the upset.
“The NDP vote did not go up,” she said, referring to the popular vote, not seats gained.
“What happened in this election is the Greens doubled their vote, they tripled their representation. That was a really strong message the citizens of British Columbia sent us. People clearly wanted to see us work together with other parties and they wanted to, in this case, certainly see the Greens play a bigger role.”
Clark said she has already spoken with Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver and planned to speak with NDP Leader John Horgan as well.
Asked if she could work with the Green Party, either in a coalition, or as a minority government, Clark suggested she could.
“In terms of whatever the outcome is, whether it’s a minority or a majority, I do intend to make sure we work across party lines with parties that want to work with us, that want to work together, that want to collaborate,” Clark said.
“And I’ve had a good relationship in working with Dr. Weaver in the past,” she said, using the honorific from his career as a university professor.
“He’s a smart, thoughtful reasonable guy, and we’ve found areas where we can work together – on sexual assault on campus, on high-heels in the workplace and, of course, he’s a strong decision on our decision to ban thermal coal in British Columbia.”
She referred her pledge, which came late in the campaign, to try to ban thermal coal exports through B.C. ports in retaliation for American softwood lumber duties.
