Clark addresses possibility of Green Party holding balance of power

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – She’s still the Premier, but for how long?

After inviting media to a news conference at her Vancouver office, Christy Clark only took a few questions before rushing out of the room.

Before she did, she confirmed she has spoken with Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver, who potentially has the balance of power after all the votes are counted.

“What happened in this election is the Greens doubled their vote, they tripled their representation. That was a really strong message that the citizens of British Columbia sent us.”

Clark refused to acknowledge she may be to blame for the Liberals losing support, after repeatedly hammering home the message she was the best choice.

“People clearly wanted us to work together with other parties. And they wanted to, in this case, certainly see the Greens play a much bigger role. I think that for all of us, the message is the same. They want us to find a way to do things differently.”

Clark says she hasn’t spoken yet with NDP leader John Horgan.

“Well, we don’t have a final result for the election yet. I mean, we won’t until the writ’s returned. I think there’s 51,000 votes outstanding still, but in terms of whatever the outcome is, I do intend to make sure that we work across party lines with parties that want to work with us.”

While she waits up to two weeks for recounts and absentee ballot results, Clark’s not acknowledging this was her election to win.

“The voters are never wrong and we got a result from the voters and British Columbians told us what they wanted –really– out of this election is they wanted to make sure that we do things differently. I intend to make sure that I lead that change in the dialogue.”

Right now, the seat count is 43 for the Liberals, 41 for the NDP and the Green party has three.

She didn’t answer when she was asked if she’s prepared to hold another election before the end of the year.