As members of the B.C. legislature gather for the fall session, the province faces mounting debt, public pleas by local officials for it to do more to make streets safer, and continuing health-care worker shortages.
All the while, legislators will likely be greeted by striking public service workers, who could force MLAs to cross picket lines to get to work.
"There may well be people working in the building who are reluctant to cross the line, but the reality is, the government of British Columbia continues to function," NDP house leader Mike Farnworth said.
The makeup of the legislature continues to morph as the B.C. Conservative Party sheds members. There are now four political parties and two Independents represented in the 93-person chamber. The NDP still holds a slim majority, with 47 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 40, then the Greens and One B.C., each with two.
The legislature begins its fall sitting on Monday, Oct. 6. This is the third in a series of articles previewing the session. The first outlines the outlook for the B.C. Greens, and the second explains the situation with the B.C. Conservatives, One B.C and Independents.
While the NDP is set to focus its fall agenda on boosting the economy, the Green Party is trying to coalesce under a new leader and her activist messaging, Independents Elenore Sturko and Jordan Kealy are prioritizing their constituencies, and the Official Opposition is working to maintain an effective coalition as a big-tent party despite losing several MLAs. One B.C., meanwhile, will be an official party in the house for the first time.
University of British Columbia political science lecturer Stewart Prest reckons the two main parties are in for a difficult session as they are forced to fight political battles on multiple fronts. Meanwhile, they are neck-and-neck in most polls.
"As the Conservatives continue to essentially step on the rakes of their own making, the NDP is not really pulling ahead in the polls, and we still see that the Conservatives remain competitive even amidst that internal turmoil," he said.
Farnworth says the government plans to introduce 18 pieces of legislation in the six-week session. This includes three holdovers from the spring: a bill altering ICBC road-testing rules, one allowing the government to recover health-care costs in at-fault injury or sickness cases, and an omnibus bill altering a slew of legal statutes.
Other expected legislation includes a bill to expedite the construction of the North Coast Transmission Line, being built to provide power across northern B.C. The session could also potentially include amendments to the Mental Health Act, which has been under review since the Lapu Lapu Day tragedy. Farnworth said any changes to that act, if there are to be any, would be revealed in the first week.
There will also be changes to the daily business of the legislature as a result of the additional party.
One B.C. members will now be able to speak at question period every day. These MLAs sat as Independents after leaving the Conservatives in the spring session, forming a party only after the session ended. Independents can only ask weekly questions on a rotating basis, but members of an official party get full privileges.
"That has been a precedent that's been in this house for quite some time," Farnworth said.
Whether some combination of One B.C., the Conservatives, the Independents and the Greens can cobble together an effective opposition remains to be seen. Either way, the government has the votes to move its agenda, and if it is aggressive enough, it can pass these 18 bills.
Prest said it will be telling how the government decides to prioritize these bills and potentially limit debate.
"We will learn a lot, I think, in these coming weeks about just how much hardball the NDP is planning to play here," he said.
For more insight on how the fall session is shaping up across the floor, check out these related stories:
B.C. government will face a splintered opposition as the fall session gets underway
Legislative agenda is murky for the B.C. Greens under new leader
