BC NDP & Greens sign governance deal

Nearly two months after BC's election day returned an uncertain preliminary result, the shape of at least the 2025 legislature has solidified. The NDP government announced on Friday a “ 2024 Co-operation and Responsible Government Accord” signed with the Greens, running four years but reviewable and mutually renewable each year.

Intercity transport, Fairy Creek protections, Community Health Centres, and re-exploration of proportional rep are among the new document's official commitments on shared priorities.

Friday's announcement by Premier David Eby made clear that these are “two distinct parties with two distinct identities” but “many shared values” that have led to “specific areas of action” to work together on.

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New commitments on health, climate, transport, and housing

The deal includes specific points of policy that the NDP government will commit to to secure support, partcularly for confidence votes, from the two Greens including new peninsula MLA Rob Botterell. Those include items emphasized by leader Sonia Furstenau in the fall election campaign, such as expanded public access to mental health care, more Community Health Centres for primary care, old growth protections, more non-market housing and renter assistance, and increased disability payments.

In some cases, the accord commits to reviews and public reports rather than specific policy—these report subjects include BC forest policy, the CleanBC green energy program, primary healthcare across BC, and the democratic process. The latter reopens the discussion on shifting to some form of proportional representation, which received a referendum in 2018 as part of the NDP-Green agreement but failed amid criticism that the options were too numerous and convoluted.

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Key Island issues mentioned directly

The Accord promises intercity “frequent, reliable, affordable” transit on the Island specifically, which Green leader Sonia Furstenau had called for during her time as a Cowichan Valley MLA. Private bus transit to Tofino, with the Wilson company, has typically gone on hiatus for part of the year. Public bus travel between Victoria and Nanaimo is available, but has a limited schedule and costs $17.50.

It also secures $30M from the province's Heart and Hearth homelessness reduction program (which is a key part of Victoria's agreement with BC, for instance) to put toward a "Village Model" and similar frameworks for housing. This model is named for a pilot project in Duncan in 2020 that emphasized tackling homelessness with fast-build structures, community integration, communal areas and programs for residents, and support services and life-planning help from site staff. Various Island municipalities, and the Union of BC Municipalities, had been advocating for the spread of this model (which has formed the basis for a Campbell River site, Victoria's Tiny Town, and more).

The deal explicitly calls for the permanent protection of the Fairy Creek watershed, "pending the resolution of existing legal proceedings and community negotiations, and in partnership with the Ditidaht and Pacheedaht First Nations." This comes after years of contention around the South Island watershed (which contains certain at-risk species) including protests and blockades that pitted activists against the logging company and RCMP, then the RCMP against the courts, activists against the courts, and First Nations council leadership against some nation members, and more.

The Accord also calls for a BC-wide review of forestry policy, but does not secure any specific old-growth protections. The province has extended deferrals on old-growth, but that extension ends in two months and it wil fall to Langford MLA Ravi Parmar to deal with the next steps as the new Forests Minister.

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New deal is more limited than 2017 one

That confidence-and-supply deal toppled the Clark BC Liberal government and brought the late John Horgan's party to power with the backing of Andrew Weaver's Greens, who were necessary to secure a majority. This fall, the NDP initially looked in need of a similar deal but crept up to a bare 47-seat majority after a key Surrey seat went the incumbent party's way in the final tally.

That result made Green support unnecessary—but still preferable. The 47-seat majority would be difficult to wield in practice. The NDP supplied the house Speaker (a primarily nonvoting role) from its own ranks after failing to draw a Green or Conservative MLA to fill the procedural role. Then last week Victoria - Beacon Hill MLA Grace Lore announced a cancer diagnosis, which could lead to potential absences during votes.

The BC Greens' Friday announcement emphasized that the accord contained, unlike 2017, "strong 'agree to disagree' provisions and a one-year renewal clause, allowing the BC Greens to maintain their independence while working with the government." But at the same time, the deal lacks concessions as major as the pro-rep referendum and electoral finance reforms of 2017.

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Parties emphasize overlap of values and practical stability

Premier Eby said in a release that BC residents “expect us to work collaboratively” and that the deal “will strengthen the stability of government.”

New Green MLA Jeremy Valeriote said that the deal gives his party “an active role” on specific issues but doesn't “restrict [it] from holding government accountable.”

John Rustad has said that his Conservatives will routinely obstruct the NDP's governance, with the goal of forcing an early election. Whether that obstruction would hold up is unclear, given that the party is already dealing with internal friction. But a deal evades scenarios in which the Conservatives and Greens both object to a piece of NDP legislation and force it to a tie—which the Speaker, whose votes are constrained by certain rules, would have to break—or even defeat it.

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Collaboration only goes so far

The deal explicitly states that it is specific to the priorities discussed within and does not “presume [Green] support” on issues outside the accord's scope.

Maria Tiamzon carefully sweeps down the carpets of the empty legislative chamber. Photo: James MacDonald / Capital Daily

Maintaining limits makes some sense for both parties. The NDP presumably prefers not to cede much power to two MLAs while the Greens may also want to avoid becoming overly associated with the incumbent government, as the federal NDP have at times struggled to avoid in their deal with the Trudeau Liberals.

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Deal came together this month

Nikki Sharma, the deputy premier and attorney general, said that the deal was sorted out over the past two weeks, per CBC. She touted being able to “speak across differences” and “build bridges” in the current climate.

It's unclear whether an official deal was planned all along or became a priority due to the cancer diagnosis of local MLA Grace Lore, who has stepped back as children and families minister and could miss legislature votes due to her treatment schedule next year.

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List of main policy commitments in the accord:

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• Health: An evaluation and public report on primary care in BC, and targets and funding to open more Community Health Centres

• Forests: A review of BC forests/ forest policy, made public within 45 days of completion. Permanent protection of Fairy Creek Watershed, pending the resolution of legal proceedings and negotiations with Pacheedaht and Ditidaht

• Watershed / water management powers for local governments will be expanded overall

• Transit: “Frequent, reliable, affordable” transit between cities on the Island and along Hwy 1, Hwy 26, and the Sea to Sky stretch (Green MLA Jeremy Valeriote's riding)

• 30,000 additional units of non-market housing, including 7,500 in 2025. The government would support co-ops, charities, munis, and nonprofits to build, buy, or protect these units.

• More money in 2025 and 2026 for renter assistance and aid for elderly renters

• For property transfers, closing a loophole through which trusts could be used to avoid tax

• Climate/energy: An early review of the overarching CleanBC program, and $50M toward electric heat pumps in more homes

• Homelessness: $30M within Heart and Hearth program to be put toward Village Model and other housing-and-services programs

• Mental health: $50 million to expand public coverage of psychologists

• Disability rates: Reviewing overall rates and ending the clawback that applies when the recipient has a spouse—a financial disincentive that disability advocate argue amounts to a form of marriage inequality.

• Electoral reform: A special legislative all-party committee on improving democratic participation,including looking at forms of proportional representation.

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Read the full 2024 Co-operation and Responsible Government Accord here to see the full list of policy points in the parties' own words.