By The Canadian Press

Canadian Press projects B.C. Liberals win minority government

May 10, 2017 | 12:38 AM

VANCOUVER — British Columbia has its first minority government in 65 years as the Liberals squeaked out a razor-thin victory over the NDP, with the Green party holding the balance of power for the first time in Canadian history.

The Liberals won 43 seats, the NDP 41 and the Greens making a major breakthrough by picking up three seats in Tuesday’s provincial election.

At least for now, no party is able to win the 44 seats necessary to govern with a majority in the 87-seat legislature.

The NDP won the Courtenay-Comox riding by only nine votes, making a recount a certainty that will determine the difference between a minority and majority if it were to flip to the Liberals. Absentee ballots are yet to be counted as well.

The campaign began four weeks ago with Liberal Leader Christy Clark and the NDP’s John Horgan locked in a tight race to be premier, and Green Leader Andrew Weaver hoping to build upon his one seat in the legislature.

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Several Liberal cabinet ministers lost seats in Metro Vancouver, including Attorney-General Suzanne Anton, Technology Minister Amrik Virk and Peter Fassbender, the minister responsible for TransLink.

The Liberals were trying to win a fifth successive majority government after holding power for 16 years.

There were plenty of smiles and laughter early on at Liberal headquarters as the party took an early lead, but the mood became more tense as the evening progressed and the NDP began to catch up.

Clark told her supporters in Vancouver she intends to lead the next government.

As the incumbent premier and because the Liberals hold the most seats, she is expected to get the first chance to form a government with the support of the Green party.

Inside the Green headquarters in Victoria, the room was filled with loud applause and cheering. At the outset of the campaign, Weaver made it his mission to expand his party’s presence in the legislature, saying that if he was the only Green elected, he wouldn’t run again.

Christin Geall, who ran for the Greens in 2001, said she was “ecstatic.”

“This is truly historic. I never believed it was possible even though I’d hoped.”

Clark’s campaign strategy marked a return to the Liberals’ winning approach in 2013, when she promoted her party as the only one that could create and protect jobs while portraying the NDP as disastrous managers of the economy.

While Clark’s promise of a booming liquefied natural gas industry has not materialized over the past four years, Clark was able to point to B.C.’s strong economy as proof of the Liberals’ financial savvy. The province has Canada’s lowest unemployment rate and has led the country in economic growth two years in a row.

Horgan sought to portray Clark as out of touch with regular British Columbians who feel the economy is not working for them, while Weaver cast the Greens as political outsiders.

The New Democrats’ platform contained big-ticket promises including $10-a-day childcare, freezing hydro rates for a year and eliminating tolls on two major Lower Mainland bridges.

Weaver reminded voters that his party was the only one to ban corporate and union donations and his promises included electoral reform, increasing the carbon tax and investing millions in clean technology jobs.

B.C.’s campaign finance laws dominated headlines before the election began. The province allows unlimited corporate and union donations and the RCMP is investigating fundraising by the province’s political parties.

After months of pressure, the Liberals committed to convening a panel to review political fundraising. The NDP and Greens have promised an outright ban on corporate and union donations.

— With files from Geordon Omand and Gemma Karstens-Smith in Vancouver, and Dirk Meissner in Victoria.