BC NDP and Green Party reach agreement, plan to form minority in the legislature

The BC Green Party has decided to support the BC NDP in forming a government.

NDP Leader John Horgan and Green Leader Andrew Weaver made the joint announcement in Victoria this afternoon.

Weaver says he and his other two Green MLAs “spent four sessions with the BC NDP –  many, many, many hours –  talking about issues of commonality and talking about differences. We also had negotiations with BC liberals and what was obvious to us, the BC Greens is that there is so much commonality in this Legislature. There are so many ideas that all parties share and, in the end, we had to make a difficult decision, a decision that we felt was in the best interest of British Columbia today, and that decision was for the BC Greens to work with the BC NDP to provide a stable, minority government over the four-year term of this next session.”

Despite the plan to work together, both Horgan and Weaver made clear that the arrangement will not be a coalition. Approximately 60% of voters in the May 9th election supported one of these two parties. After 16 years of a Liberal government, Horgan says he’s excited to bring the change that three-fifths of the Province want.

“(Both parties) brought forward the issues that bring us together and we’ve highlighted and those issues that separate us and we’ve come to a conclusion that a government run by the BC NDP, with the support (from the Greens) on issues around supply and budgeting, can, in fact, deliver for British Columbia a government that is focused on people.

The terms of the arrangement won’t be announced until both caucuses formally agree to it on Tuesday.