Are the Greens currently winning?

[bazinga42]

No, seriously... I just looked at the live "results" (hasn't ended) and I see this:

Green - 3
NDP - 42
Liberal - 42

Granted, 4 are still closely contested and I think mathematically that favors the Liberals, but IF it ended like this... doesn't that mean effectively the Greens won? Wouldn't they pretty much hold all the power?

I'm sure I'm wrong. Please... go easy on me. I am NOT a student of provincial politics. But wouldn't that pretty much mean the "leading" parties - tied - would be deadlocked on pretty much everything and would have to give concessions to the Greens to get their votes?

[Glacier]

Ya, pretty much, and they took 20% of the vote in the North Okanagan!

[A_Britishcolumbian]

tripling the seats held is a win for sure, holding the balance of 'majority' would be a true win as well.

[bazinga42]

I guess it doesn't have to end in a tie, right? Same situation holds so long as neither NDP nor liberal are > 2 apart. So right now Libs are 43 to NDP 41 and GRN 3... that's still a "Green victory", of sorts.

Interesting times! The Greens are going to wake up and go "Holy %##@... we actually have to DO something now"

[A_Britishcolumbian]

yes, any minority situation. 44 is majority.

[bazinga42]

Oh, right. Of course.

Here I was thinking this was a mathematical anomaly that required a very specific minority outcome. But you're right, of course. I must be tired.

[A_Britishcolumbian]

Greens hold balance of power with three elected MLAs in stunning B.C. election
Wednesday, May 10, 2017 @ 1:41 AM
VICTORIA — British Columbia's upstart Green party achieved the historic political breakthrough they were looking for on Tuesday, winning three seats and holding the balance of power as no party won enough seats to form a majority government.

The see-saw election battle ended with 43 Liberals, 41 New Democrats and three Greens, although recounts could still change the outcome.

The Greens received eight per cent of the popular vote in the 2013 election along with their lone seat, but Weaver boldly forecasted gains in areas of NDP strength on Vancouver Island and the Kootenays. They finished with more than 16 per cent of the popular vote based on Tuesday's preliminary results.

He said at the outset of the campaign that if he was the only Green elected, he would ultimately step aside as leader.

Weaver said watching B.C. invest in old fossil fuel technologies and miss opportunities to develop a sustainable and modern economy convinced him to pursue politics.

He also stuck to policy-driven messages during the campaign and criticized the NDP for pushing voters to reject the Greens to help them oust Clark's Liberals, saying it was a form of voter suppression.

"There are people out there who feel that smear and slur are the ways to win elections," Weaver said after voting in his Victoria-area riding Tuesday. "That's not our way. Our way is to inspire people to get out to vote."

http://www.250news.com/canadian-press/? ... 02f47a4c6a

[George+]

Hard to imagine the Greens propping up the Lieberals.
But strange things happen in politics.

[The Green Barbarian]

Hard to imagine the Greens propping up the Lieberals.
But strange things happen in politics.

Even harder to imagine Weaver propping up bully-boy Hulk Horgan and his gang of New-Dumbs.

[bazinga42]

If they have the fortitude, they don't need to prop up either. They can hold to their own agenda, for better or for worse. Of course, if they push too far, their political future is doomed. Will be interesting.

[lasnomadas]

The only thing the Greens have won is the chance to support the NDP in their environmental policies. The BC Liberals have no environmental policies, so I doubt very much that Weaver would try to form a coalition with them.

Weaver's candidates in every riding except 3 on the Island doesn't bode well for them everywhere else in the province. He couldn't even gain a foothold in the Teflon Tart's riding in the Okanagan.

[hobbyguy]

The Green party gained a lot of credibility in this election. Their platform made the NDP platform look silly and trite.

[Drip_Torch]

The Green party gained a lot of credibility in this election. Their platform made the NDP platform look silly and trite.

And what would you base that assessment on?

NDP gained seats, staying on par in the popular vote. Lib's lost seats and declined in the popular vote.

[The Green Barbarian]

The only thing the Greens have won is the chance to support the NDP in their environmental policies.

.

But the NDP's environmental policies are just plain stupid and extremely economically damaging to BC's economy. Why would Weaver support them?

. He couldn't even gain a foothold in the Teflon Tart's riding in the Okanagan.

yes I just looked up dumb-arse Dix's riding and Meathead Horgan's riding and Weaver didn't do much in either of those two ridings either, despite how weak both NDP candidates were in those ridings.

[bazinga42]

The only thing the Greens have won is the chance to support the NDP in their environmental policies. The BC Liberals have no environmental policies, so I doubt very much that Weaver would try to form a coalition with them.

If I were the Green party leader, "coalition" wouldn't even be in my vocabulary right now. By my limited understanding of politics (but significant experience in negotiation), I'd say they have both parties by the short and curlys. Think about it... Liberals say, "We should give corporations a tax cut" and the greens say, "sure, whatevs... but we're building a solar farm. No? Then no tax cuts". NDP say, "more money to education" and the greens say, "sure, whatevs... but we're going to clean up that sewer-into-the-ocean thing. No? Then *bleep* off".

As long as the Greens don't appear to stifle operations just for the sake of doing so, they should be able to get every concession they want. Now, what those are... I can't say. I'm assuming really only by their name that they are pro-environment. To be honest, I've never looked into them at a provincial level... I've only listened to what the local candidate had to say.

Weaver's candidates in every riding except 3 on the Island doesn't bode well for them everywhere else in the province. He couldn't even gain a foothold in the Teflon Tart's riding in the Okanagan.

You say that like they should have been able to. Of course Clark was going to show strong here. I'm in her riding and it has been CLEARLY advantageous for us to have the Premier as our "representative" over the last X years. Unfair as it is to the rest of the tax payers, we got WAY more than our share of public money. That's BS, in my opinion, but it certainly garners local support, if nothing else. There was no way she was going to lose and - predictably - it wasn't even close. On top of that... the Greens didn't exactly have a winner running against her here. I call myself "Green" - at least greener than most - but there was no way I would vote for that guy based on some of the nonsense that came out of his mouth. The NDP had a reasonable candidate here, but based on the people (not the parties), Christie was the best choice here (that said, I voted Orange).