By Richard McGuire

MLA Linda Larson will likely find herself in opposition as the B.C. NDP is poised to become the next government of the province with the support of the B.C. Greens.

After final vote totals last week left the governing B.C. Liberals with a 43-seat minority, NDP Leader John Horgan and Green Leader Andrew Weaver announced an agreement Monday that would allow the NDP to form the government.

That agreement still needed to be ratified by NDP and Green MLAs, which is expected to happen Tuesday.

Also, B.C. Liberal Leader Christy Clark still needs to step down, either preemptively by conceding the inevitable or through a non-confidence vote in the legislature.

Final numbers released by Elections BC last week confirmed Larson’s re-election with 9,513 votes, representing 42.8 per cent of the popular vote.

But the numbers, which included absentee ballots, also gave the NDP a 189-vote victory in the tight race in Courtenay-Comox, which the NDP was leading by a mere nine votes on election night, leaving the provincial outcome uncertain.

That means the NDP, with 41 seats, combined with the Greens’ three seats, together have 44 seats, the minimum needed for a majority in the legislature.

The four-year agreement between the two parties is not a formal coalition.

Rather, the NDP and Greens will operate as separate caucuses, with the Greens supporting the NDP on confidence votes.

Details will be released after both parties ratify it.

“We can have a stable minority government for four years with the support of B.C. Green MLAs on confidence and supply matters,” said Weaver on Monday.

“People voted overwhelmingly for change, and we are ready to give them that,” said Horgan. “A New Democrat government will deliver what people voted for on May 9: making life more affordable, fixing the services people count on, and building a sustainable economy that works for everyone.”

This is the first minority government in B.C. since 1952 and the first time since 2001 that the NDP has formed government.

Last week Clark said that with 43 Liberal candidates elected as MLAs, and a plurality in the legislature, “we have a responsibility to move forward and form a government.”

But without the support of a majority in the legislature, a B.C. Liberal government would not likely survive its first confidence vote.

“With this historic result, British Columbia can finally put the ineffective two-party system behind us,” said Weaver after the final vote totals were announced.

Weaver supports a proportional system of elections that would give smaller parties more power and Horgan said he does too.

“I look forward to working with both other parties so that we can finally get big money out of politics, move towards electoral reform and implement good public policy on a wide range of issues that puts people first,” said Weaver.

Larson’s final total of 9,513 votes is an increase of 339 votes from those announced on election night and a slight drop in percentage of about three tenths of one per cent.

Also in Boundary-Similkameen, NDP candidate Colleen Ross increased her total by 334 votes to 7,275. That gives her 32.73 per cent of the popular vote.

In third place, independent candidate Dr. Peter Entwistle added 137 votes bringing his total to 3,165 votes, and 14.24 per cent.

In fourth and last place was Vonnie Lavers of the B.C. Greens, who added 129 votes for a final total of 2,274 and 10.23 per cent.