A commentary by the Green MLA for Saanich North and the Islands.
For the past seven years I have worked as a member of the government. Specifically, a member of the legislative assembly and as a member of the B.C. Green Caucus I have sat in the opposition side of the assembly.
This might seem basic but some of the arguments political parties use to convince you to vote one way or another go against the government’s healthy function. All members of the legislative assembly are members of government. The assembly functions best for the people when there is balance.
Elections determine the makeup of the assembly. When all the votes are counted, the party with the most seats, either by vote or by operating agreement, are on the governing “side” and they appoint members to a cabinet that is responsible for the executive functions of government.
The rest of the members are the “opposition” with the party that has the most seats recognized as the “official opposition” and the other parties lining up in order of the number of seats they hold.
This competitive system creates tension in the government. The role of the executive is to lead the government, the role of the opposition is demand transparency and accountability. In my experience the closer the assembly is to stasis the better.
As a signatory to the Confidence and Supply Agreement that formed the B.C. NDP-led minority government in 2017, the tight vote and fragmentation of power created more collaboration and overall a more cautious and thoughtful public policy process. Exactly what you want policy development to be.
When the B.C. NDP won a big majority in 2020, I experienced the imbalance. The B.C. NDP were less collaborative, increasingly autocratic, and my record shows I have been publicly warning about this behaviour since at least 2021, not just at election time when it can be passed off as partisan complaints.
I hear dangerous arguments that voters need to guess the party that will win the election and then vote for one of their members in order for their community to be represented, and receive government investments.
Firstly, it’s not true. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in Saanich North and the Islands in the past seven years.
Do governing parties have pork-barrel tendencies near election time? Yes. But, for the most part government funds flow to the communities and projects that are in the greatest need and best positioned to deliver.
Secondly, and most importantly, this argument creates a potentially terrifying government. One hundred per cent of the members on one side and no members on the other side responsible for ferociously tearing apart the work and making sure it can withstand a challenge.
Follow this argument to the end and you realize you are arguing in support of there being no members in opposition.
As a soon-to-be non-MLA I hope for slim margins. There is a perception that government will not be able to “get things done” without a strong majority.
If it means the Executive won’t have a bunch of unquestioning backbench support to ram legislation and amendments through without proper public awareness and debate: Wonderful.
If it means the Executive won’t have free rein to allow their finance minister to run up massive deficits unchecked: Excellent.
If it means there will be a robust opposition tearing apart the legislation, asking questions on the record and demanding accountability: Fantastic.
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