B.C. lieutenant-governor asks NDP Leader David Eby to form government
Karin Larsen | CBC News | Posted: October 28, 2024 9:25 PM | Last Updated: October 29
NDP wins 47 seats, but CBC not projecting a majority, pending judicial recount
B.C. NDP Leader David Eby was asked Monday afternoon by Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin to form the next government.
Austin's request came hours after CBC News projected Eby as the winner of the 2024 provincial election following a day-long recount of razor-thin margins in critical ridings that gave his party a narrow win.
The NDP has been elected in 47 ridings, with the Conservatives elected in 44. The B.C. Greens have won two seats.
A majority requires a party to win at least 47 of the 93 seats in the B.C. Legislature, however, even though the NDP has achieved that number, CBC News is not projecting a majority government pending a judicial recount in Surrey-Guildford which the NDP won by just 27 votes.
The victory is a result of Monday's absentee and special ballot counts in the most competitive ridings, which took place 10 days after the Oct. 19 final voting day, where a clear winner did not emerge.
Key to securing the win was NDP candidate Dana Lajeunesse in Juan de Fuca-Malahat, who was elected with a lead of 141 votes over Conservative Marina Sapozhnikov.
B.C. NDP leader poised to form majority government, pending recount results:
Eby meets with lieutenant-governor
In a statement sent around 5 p.m. PT, Eby thanked voters for giving the NDP a third term in government.
"Today, I met with Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin," Eby said. "She has asked me to form the next government. We will, and we will work hard every day to earn the trust you have placed in us."
WATCH | Eby promises to do better after humbling election performance:
In his statement, Eby acknowledged that voters had sent a message about how tight the election was, and his government would get to work right away on the challenges being faced by people in the province.
In a statement posted to social media, Austin said she made the decision after receiving the outcome of the provincial election from Elections B.C. and receiving assurances of the results of the final count.
"I extend my thanks to all candidates who ran and to those departing the Legislative Assembly for their dedicated service to the province," she said.
In a social media post, Conservative Leader John Rustad said he was "immensely proud" to have led his upstart party to the brink of government in just under a year.
"While there are still judicial recounts to be completed, it's now clear that our party will not win enough seats to form government in B.C.," he said on X. "I am ready to begin the important work of leading BC's Official Opposition."
Surrey-Guildford nail-biter
A nail-biter in the riding of Surrey-Guildford saw NDP incumbent Garry Begg beat Conservative Honveer Singh Randhawa by 27 votes.
CBC News has not projected the results of that riding pending a judicial recount.
CBC News is projecting Conservative Brennan Day as the winner in Courtenay-Comox, beating NDP incumbent Ronna-Rae Leonard.
Recounts occurring in 2 ridings
According to Elections B.C., if the difference between the top two candidates is less than 1/500th of the total ballots considered, an automatic judicial recount must take place.
The recounts will take place in Kelowna Centre, where the Conservatives won by 38 votes, and Surrey-Guildford, where the NDP won by 27 votes.
Judicial recounts are conducted by a justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia and can also be requested by a candidate by the Nov. 4 deadline on the following basis:
- Votes were not correctly accepted, or ballots were not correctly rejected.
- Unopened or resealed certification envelopes or secrecy enclosures contain ballots that should be considered.
- A ballot account does not accurately record the number of votes for a candidate.
- The final count did not correctly calculate the total number of votes for a candidate.
Cross-party co-operation possible
Stewart Prest, a political science professor at the University of B.C., said that even if the NDP has a 47-seat majority, it is very likely it may look to form an alliance with the B.C. Green Party to pass legislation.
Under the rules of the B.C. Legislature, a Speaker has to be elected to preside over the house, and Prest says that the logistics make it likely the NDP will need assistance to pass legislation.
"The Speaker would be a neutral actor able to vote to support government in some important circumstances," he told CBC News. "But quite often, [they] would be there to stand aside ... and so we would not be able to allow the government to close off business and move on to the next thing effectively."
In a statement, B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau said that the tight election had shown British Columbians were demanding better outcomes from their governments.
"Pending a judicial recount, it appears as though MLAs from different parties will have to work together for the Legislature to function effectively," she said.