BC minority could have major implications for Alberta

The Liberals have threatened a levy, in retaliation for USA duties on softwood lumber.

These counts mean neither of the two main parties now controls a majority of seats in the B.C. Legislative Assembly, where the BC Greens will hold the balance of power.

The challenge for Weaver is that he ran on a campaign of change, and would have to convince his two MLAs and his supporters that propping up the Liberals is worth it - perhaps, for example, if Clark agrees to look into electoral reform, which Weaver has said is his top priority.

How a coalition government would impact something like the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, which was a major issue on the North Shore and is opposed by both the NDP and Greens, is also far from clear, Harrison added.

Clark ardently supports Site C and endorsed Trans Mountain in January after claiming her five conditions were met.

However, if the results are confirmed, Harrison said the Liberals and New Democrats may be forced to compromise with the Greens or face another election.

Minority governments are inherently unstable and if the B.C. government falls, the Greens' success last night and likely lack of success implementing a green program in partnership with a development-oriented right-wing government will probably have two impacts.

"The NDP in power in British Columbia would have caused some gastric discomfort not just for the federal Liberals in Ottawa but also next door for the NDP government of Alberta which, of course, is pro-pipeline", said pollster Shachi Kurl, executive director of the Vancouver-based Angus Reid Institute.

Asked what stopped the NDP from winning, Horgan said the game was still on. "From a who-do-we-want-to-work-with perspective, this may be a gut-check on the part of the folks in Ottawa and Edmonton". Historically, minority governments have not boded well for the third party, the University of Victoria professor of social policy said Wednesday. "The notion that our political cards, our party affiliation extends right across the country doesn't apply. "(They) voted today for proportional representation.

That's why Notley is arguably a big loser in the B.C. election.

But with the results unlikely to be final before May 24, it would be premature to commit to anything, he said. "Any perception that the will of any province is going to be steamrolled by Ottawa is highly problematic".

People expressed concern that the Greens could take away votes from the NDP, but Harris dismissed that as a scare tactic.

"If you can make the counterfactual argument that the Greens are closer to the New Democrats [and] a few extra votes would have made a difference, there aren't too many places where you could make that". Clark's Liberals took most of the hits that cost them their soft majority cushion in and around the ground zero of the Trans Mountain project, in the larger Vancouver area. Despite boasting about B.C. having Canada's strongest economy and four balanced budgets - true - Clark's Liberals lost four cabinet ministers, her popular vote dropped and a comfortable majority turned into a minority. "The majority of voters just voted for parties that were against Kinder Morgan". The Greens support an even higher price on carbon than the Liberals are proposing.

If Liberals vote one of their members to be Speaker, they're back to a 43-seat minority government.

"All the different scenarios play out in a hung parliament", he said, using a term to describe a situation where no single party or group of parties controls the majority of legislative or parliamentary seats.

Officially, Clark remains premier until the government loses a confidence vote in the legislature.

Both Horgan and Clark said Wednesday they are planning to sit down with Weaver to talk about working together.

As of now and until B.C. returns to the polls at some unspecified time, the province stands to be in permanent campaign mode.

"Don't go out and get any manicures yet because you've still got some nail-biting to come".