BC Green Party leader talking to NDP, won’t take BC Conservative calls as election drama proceeds

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The BC Green Leader says the premier hopefuls of both major parties have reached out to her since the weekend’s undecided election, but she only took the NDP’s call, criticizing the Conservative Party for failing to address the offensive remarks of some of its candidates.

After an initial count of ballots for Saturday’s election, the NDP were leading or elected in 46 seats, the Conservatives in 45 and the Greens in two. A final count is under way and will be followed by at least two recounts.

If the preliminary results hold, neither the NDP nor the Conservatives will achieve the 47 seats needed for a majority government, and the Greens could once again negotiate with the two parties for the balance of power, as they did in 2017.

Green Leader Sonia Furstenau, who lost her bid for a seat in Victoria-Beacon Hill, will nonetheless stay on at her party’s helm. On Wednesday, at her first news conference since the election, she said she spoke with NDP Leader David Eby that morning, though she would not disclose what was discussed.

Conservative Leader John Rustad had also phoned, but she did not take that call, she said.

“There have been statements made by Conservative candidates that are truly disturbing, racist, dehumanizing, homophobic and conspiratorial,” she told reporters. “Some of these candidates have been elected, and I have yet to see a satisfactory response from John Rustad around this.”

The Conservative Party did not respond to a request for comment from The Globe and Mail on Wednesday. In an interview on Sunday, Mr. Rustad said that his party would be reaching out to a number of elected MLAs, including Green MLAs, to discuss “what some options could look like.”

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Under the scenario of an NDP minority, Mr. Rustad said his party would explore every possibility to “bring them down as quickly as possible,” including forcing another election.

“And if it happens to be an NDP majority, we’ll be looking at every opportunity possible to stymie their ability to actually get anything done.”

During the election campaign, numerous Conservative candidates had been criticized for offensive comments and social-media postings.

Brent Chapman, for instance, had described Palestinian children in a 2015 Facebook post as “little inbred, walking, talking, breathing time bombs, figuratively and literally.” In a 2017 post, he questioned whether the mass shootings at the Quebec City mosque, Sandy Hook Elementary and Pulse nightclub in Orlando really happened. Mr. Chapman was elected in South Surrey.

Mr. Rustad was asked days before the election whether Mr. Chapman would be appointed to cabinet if elected. The Conservative Leader did not answer directly, saying only that his party would have a cabinet that is reflective of all British Columbians.

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Ms. Furstenau said Wednesday that elected representatives have a serious burden and responsibility to hold themselves to a high standard. Asked what Mr. Rustad would have to do to win the Greens’ co-operation, she said that is a question for him to contemplate.

Last November, Ms. Furstenau removed deputy leader Sanjiv Gandhi after he “liked” a social-media post comparing Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry to Nazi doctor Josef Mengele – a decision that Mr. Gandhi accepted, though he said he was unaware that he had done so. The Green Leader had issued a statement within hours of the post’s circulation, saying she found it to be unacceptable.

After the 2017 election, it took two months to sort out who would form government. After intense negotiations, the legislature’s three elected Greens ended up handing the balance of power to the NDP in a deal that gave them official party status, campaign-finance reform and an agreement to work toward changing the electoral system.

The resulting agreement allowed premier John Horgan to form a minority government that lasted for more than three years, before he tore up the deal and called a snap election.