Poll: Picking a Speaker

The election count is final and Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin has asked B.C. Premier David Eby to form government, with the BC NDP winning 47 of 93 seats.

Even if the automatic judicial recounts in the ridings of Surrey-Guildford and Kelowna maintain those results, there's still one more catch on the NDP's way to forming a working majority government.

Of the 93 members that make up the B.C. Legislature this term, under law, one of them must be the Speaker of the House. By custom and standing orders, that member is supposed to be non-partisan so they can mediate fair and free-flowing debates.

Speakers are encouraged not to vote unless there is a tie and even then casting a vote tests parliamentarian tradition. Who that person will be remains an open question.

While the BC NDP have earned a slim majority, unless they get a BC Conservative or BC Green MLA-elect to take on the role, Eby would have to choose a Speaker from his caucus.

This would pit 46 NDP MLAs against 44 Conservatives and in a theoretical showdown that could leave the two Green candidates as the tiebreakers.

Such a scenario could also test the Speaker’s neutrality, according to University of B.C. political scientist Stewart Prest.

“Overall I’d say, for the present, this is quite a dynamic and messy situation,” said Prest.

Premier opens door for collaboration, Speaker role

As such, Eby told reporters Tuesday he is speaking to the BC Greens today and left the door open for a Conservative MLA to step forward as a Speaker candidate.

“It’s an open invitation for any MLA to work with us …one of those ways is certainly Speaker,” said Eby.

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