British Columbia.

• Author: Robinson, Gordon
• Position: ASSEMBLEE NATIONAL - Report

The 40th provincial general election was held on May 14, 2013. Preliminary voting results indicate that the BC Liberal Part, led by Premier Christy Clark, won 50 seats and will have a fourth consecutive term as government. The BC NDP, led by Adrian Dix, secured 33 seats and will form the Official Opposition. Vicki Huntington (Delta South) was re-elected as an Independent. Also notable was the election of Andrew Weaver in Oak Bay-Gordon Head, the first Green Party of BC candidate to be elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly.

While the governing BC Liberal Party increased its majority by 5 seats, Premier Clark was unsuccessful in her constituency of Vancouver Point-Grey, losing to David Eby, the BC NDP candidate, by 785 votes. This is the first time since 1924 that a BC Premier has lost their seat in a general election while their party formed government.

The turnout of eligible voters was 52 percent, up one percentage point from the 2009 general election.

Final Session of 39th Parliament

On February 12, 2013, the 4th Session of the 39th Parliament prorogued. That afternoon, the 5th Session opened with the Speech from the Throne. Delivered by British Columbia's new Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon, the final Throne Speech of the 39th Parliament focused on the importance of maintaining a strong economy in the face of global economic instability by increasing BC's trade with Asia. Another major theme of the speech was the "generational opportunity" presented by BC's nascent liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. The government announced a plan to create a prosperity fund from the royalties generated by this industry and to use that fund to work towards paying off the provincial debt, increase services, and ultimately eliminate the provincial sales tax.

In response, the opposition criticized the Throne Speech for failing to address key issues facing the province, such as economic productivity, social inequality, and sustainability, and its singular focus on LNG exports, claiming that the government has "narrowed the debate about our future to one project". The opposition pointed out that construction has not begun on a single LNG plant and that any benefits of the prosperity fund would not be realized until 30 years in the future.

On February 19, Minister of Finance Mike de Jong delivered the budget address for fiscal year 2013/14 projecting a surplus of $197 million in 2013/14, increasing to $460 million in 2015/16. The budget included...