We have a new Legislative Assembly. Who are “we”? We are the 43 per cent who did not vote, isolated from the 25 per cent who voted for the NDP, the 25 per cent who voted for the Conservatives, and the 7 per cent who voted for the Greens, other parties and independent candidates. Does this really define who we are? Is there another way to describe who we are?
We Greens, Conservatives, New Democrats, non-voters and others are spread over 93 electoral districts. Within each of these districts we live in the same neighbourhoods, we shop in the same stores, queuing up as equals at check-out counters. We cheer our home teams, our kids attend the same schools, we visit the same parks, same coffee shops, same pubs, same libraries and we worship together.
We elect municipal councils and school boards who find unity of purpose notwithstanding their individual political ideology as they meet and work to craft bylaws and policies, struggle to balance budgets and prioritize programs. They compromise for the good of their community without forsaking their individual political preferences.
We, who elected you in each of British Columbia’s electoral districts, live, work, and play together. That is who “we” are. Why can the 93 of you not conduct yourselves in the same spirit of cooperation?
We did not vote for a Premier or a Leader of the Opposition; we elected 93 individuals, fellow citizens, to work for us in our Legislative Assembly.
You now have a choice to make: you can decide to form two camps and constantly fight each other, tooth and nail, over anything and everything from the shape of teacups to nuclear power plants, or you can decide to mirror who we, who elected you, are, and form a grand coalition. A grand coalition is a government formed by two opposing parties which normally do not share power.
Grand collations are formed in times of crisis, as Great Britain did during the two world wars. British Columbia is not embroiled in a war, but we live in a time of crisis: the cost of living, housing, health care, drug addictions, personal and communal debt, and the environment. Added to that we also face the prospect of political and economic upheavals in Canada and abroad – a time of crisis indeed!
How could the 93 of you establish a grand coalition? You will need an executive. We only need a small cabinet, 12 members including premier and deputy premier would suffice. The remaining 10 cabinet positions could be assigned equally, five each to Conservative and NDP MLAs.
The two party leaders could serve as premier and deputy premier, alternating annually. The rotation could be started with a coin toss. Every one of the 10 MLAs appointed to cabinet should be presented to the Legislature to have her or his appointment confirmed by majority vote.
Doing so would establish, for the record, that our provincial government is accountable and answerable to our Legislative Assembly. One among you will need to serve as Speaker. The duty of the 80 remaining MLAs for the next four years would be a) to carefully examine all legislation and budget estimates presented to you by the government, and b) to hold the government accountable in the performance of its executive duties.
Who did we elect? Did we elect 93 honourable MLAs or 93 deluded political partisans pursuing their personal ambitions?
