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Roundup: A tight election, but no change in government

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It looks like it’s a tight finish in BC’s election, and that there won’t be clear winners in some of the most contested ridings until later in the week, but right now it’s sitting at 46-45-2 NDP/Conservative/Green. And because a lot of people are civically illiterate, they need to be reminded that a) The NDP are still the government and David Eby is still the premier because he hasn’t resigned, and no, the lieutenant governor is not sitting around waiting for the results to declare who will form government. That’s not how the system works.

Eby will meet the legislature, whenever that happens, and his ability to maintain the confidence of the Chamber will be tested, and there will likely be some kind of supply and confidence agreement with the Green Party, but the real question is going to be who is going to put up a Speaker, because this could change the dynamics if there are no changes once the results are finalized. The Conservatives are unlikely to want to do so, and the NDP might order their caucus to refuse, leaving a situation where nobody comes forward, paralyzing the legislature. If that lasts longer than six months, that could trigger another election. (This was already a drama in BC after another election a few years ago, when the BC Liberals basically tied, and eventually one of their number broke ranks to run for Speaker, then Christy Clark lost a confidence vote, the LG refused her another election, and the NDP formed a government with Green support).

This having been said, I have already seen certain progressive types on social media declaring that if the Greens don’t use their kingmaker status in this legislature to push for electoral reform, they might as well not bother to exist. I’m unsure about the logic there because just what kind of electoral reform, and do they really think that ramming it through in a partisan manner in a minority legislature without consensus is going to work against them, and that the Conservatives won’t run in the next election howling about how the evil NDP changed the rules for their own benefit? BC is dealing with the far-right being *this* close to being in power (and make no mistake—the BC Conservative Party is a far-right party, and thus far it looks like four of their elected MLAs were previous People’s Party candidates). Giving them any ammunition is a Very Bad idea, and no, electoral reform won’t save you from the far-right. In fact, it might just wind up enabling them.

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/1848007688417919426

Ukraine Dispatch

Russians have been targeting Kyiv with drones for a second night in a row. They hit Kryvhi Rih with a ballistic missile attack that injured 17, while they also claim to have shot down over a hundred Ukrainian drones on Sunday, but Ukraine says they hit an airfield and an explosives factory in Russia. Military bloggers report fighting in the streets of Selydove.

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