Editor's note: After the absentee ballots were counted, the NDP margin in the Courtenay–Comox riding on Vancouver Island went from 9 votes to 189 votes. So the seats stay the same at 43 for the Liberals, 41 for the NDP, and 3 for the Greens. Christy Clark and the Liberals will likely have the first shot at forming government in British Columbia. Depending on the Greens, the NDP could ultimately form government. But this is a drama that will play out for some time in British Columbia.
In the final tally, Liberals won the popular vote count by a margin of 1,566 — 796,672 to 795,106 — the closest result in the province's history.
British Columbia voters wanted change in last night's election but we still don't know what that change will look like. The Liberals currently have 43 seats, 1 seat short of a majority in Parliament. The New Democratic Party has 41 seats, 3 short of a majority. The Green Party, yes the Green Party has the power to sway the direction of the government at 3 seats.
Christy Clark nor NDP leader John Horgan nor Green Party leader Andrew Weaver should do much celebrating or planning at this point. Absentee ballots will be counted on May 22-24.
This doesn't count recounts, such as the Courtenay–Comox riding on Vancouver Island, where the NDP candidate won by 9 votes over the Liberals. Recounts are automatic when the results are within 0.2%.
All 3 party leaders did give victory speeches of sorts rather late at night, even on the West Coast.
British Columbia hasn't seen a minority government since 1952. That government lasted for about a year. Unlike the federal minority governments in 2004 (Paul Martin), 2006, and 2008 (Stephen Harper), the margin is so close that even though the Liberals have a 2-seat advantage, the NDP and Greens have enough combined for a majority with a 0-seat error margin. The government could also be a coalition where party members can vote their conscience on all bills instead of toeing the party line.
The number 2 is also significant because there were 2 extra ridings in this race and the Greens got 2 more seats. The actual breakdown is more complicated. NDP did much better in Metro Vancouver while the Liberals picked up some rural ridings. The Green Party fell 1 seat short of the 4 seats required for official party status.
2017 British Columbia provincial election preview
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The election had 4 transgendered candidates running for office. None of those candidates won. However, Morgane Oger has a shot at a possible recount in the Vancouver-False Creek riding. The riding was one of the closest on the board all night. Oger had a lead for awhile over incumbent and former Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan.
The 3 other candidates were longshots in their ridings. Stacey Piercey ran as a Liberal in the NDP-dominant Victoria-Swan Lake riding. Veronica Greer in Surrey-Panorama and Nicola Spurling in Coquitlam-Maillardville ran as Green Party candidates.
There has never been a transgendered MLA on the provincial level in Canada.
Donald Trump dairy rant may be more about softwood lumber
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Donald Trump did enter the race as a villain though it's almost certain that he didn't know about the upcoming provincial election. The duties on softwood lumber came during the election cycle.
Clark responded the day after the announcement with a request to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ban the export of thermal coal from the United States.
Any British Columbia premier couldn't make that decision but Clark's quick response might have made a difference.
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The Liberals have been in power since 2001. The NDP blew a 20-point lead in the polls in the 2013 election. One of the 2 parties will claim victory on some level but that outcome is still to come.
If the Liberals hang on, Christy Clark will become the first female premier to be re-elected. Rachel Notley (Alberta) is toward the beginning of her first term while Kathleen Wynne (Ontario) will be up for re-election in 2018.
Alison Redford (Alberta) resigned in the middle of her first term. Pauline Marois (Quebec) called for a quick election not far into her first term and lost power.
Kathy Dunderdale (Newfoundland and Labrador) resigned during her first term. Pat Duncan called for a quick election in the Yukon in 2002 after 2 years in office. Duncan was the only Liberal to keep a seat in that election. Catherine Callbeck (Prince Edward Island) resigned after 3½ years as premier in 1996 just before her Liberal party lost the provincial election.
Christy Clark lost her seat in the Liberals 2013 comeback. Clark won a by-election in a different riding to remain as premier. David Eby defeated Clark in the Point Grey riding in 2013 and won re-election last night.
There is usually a decorum where the speeches are given without others speaking. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver was about to speak when the cameras shifted to NDP leader John Horgan going on stage. CBC Vancouver chose to stay with Horgan's speech. That can be a good decision since the NDP was vying to be the top party at the end of the night.
If Horgan's strategy was to prevent Weaver's speech from being shown, the strategy worked. Weaver's speech wasn't covered by the CBC. The speech could have been taped and shown later but that wasn't apparently considered.
I am knocking CBC Vancouver for a poor journalism decision. Unfortunately, TV news determines for some reason if the speech isn't live, you can't show the speech. CBC Vancouver should make that speech available so the voters can see the speech. The Green Party only won 3 seats (still huge) but received over 16% of the vote. In all of the Green Party efforts in Canadian provincial elections, this was the best effort by the party. Blowing off the Green Party speech on that night was a bad move for journalism and democracy.
Game 6 of the Ottawa Seantors series ended at 7:10 pm PDT, 50 minutes before the polls closed in British Columbia. CBUT Vancouver stuck with pre-election coverage instead of the hockey game. NHL fans in British Columbia could have watched the game on Rogers Sportsnet or stream the game through CBC Sports. NHL fans in Western Washington, including Seattle, had to rely on NBCSN.
screen grabs: CBUT/CBC Vancouver
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