Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas has been elected by acclamation as Speaker of the House. My presumption is that his days as a Liberal are numbered. And the number may be less than zero.
The power arithmetic now looks like this (presuming Liberals win Clark’s seat via by-election):
- NDGreen 44
- Liberals 42
- Speaker (quasi-Liberal) 1
Thanks to Business In Vancouver’s N Bennett.
Interviews and comments from Liberal Party insiders HERE (thanks to Rob Shaw at Canada.com). Look for hints about MLA Plecas’ Liberal party future in words like “betrayal”, “lied”, “not being honest”.
It is interesting that the word ‘defection’ is being repeatedly used. He really hasn’t defected, as he is not joining the NDP or the greens. The speaker position is technically a neutral position, so he is not defecting. Not saying the Liberals should like it.
The BC Liberals are actually down to 41 seats now, due to Christy Clark’s resignation and Plecas’ taking the role of speaker. But next year’s Kelowna by-election (to replace Christy Clark) will likely bring them back up to 42.
That gives the NDP some breathing room but they better use it to govern more robustly than their tepid throne speech suggested.