What are the chances of a minority government in BC?
Posted May 4, 2017 4:27 pm.
Last Updated June 15, 2017 4:13 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – We haven’t seen one in decades, but with the polls tight and an emerging Green Party, one political expert says a minority government in BC is a real possibility.
Michael Prince is a political scientist at UVic, he says one of the reasons why we are in this place is because parties have focused on the wrong topics.
“The issues that Christy Clark and the Liberals have run on around jobs, taxes, smaller government. They are there but they are lower down in terms of people’s priorities.”
Prince says the struggle on the left has lead to the chance for a much closer race.
“Neither the Green nor the NDP has capitalized as the single obvious alternative to the BC Liberals at this point.”
Prince says the Greens aren’t just playing the role of spoiler this time around.
“They’re still polling at historically strong numbers at the 20 to 25 per cent range.”
Prince believes a contentious election so far might bring in more people on Tuesday.
“I suspect that the overall voting turnout for the 2017 provincial election will be higher than last time.”
He says the Greens and NDP would likely benefit from that.
The last time there was a minority government in BC was in 1952.
