With the convincing sweep of all three seats in the May 14 B.C. election, Richmond may seem like the ideal B.C. Liberal Party stronghold.
So, would one of the citys newly minted MLAs make way for Premier Christy Clark to run in a byelection so she can take a seat in the B.C. Legislature?
Clarks party won the election, but she lost her riding Vancouver-Point Grey Tuesday, placing second behind the NDPs David Eby by 785 votes.
The News asked John Yap (Richmond-Steveston), Teresa Wat (Richmond Centre) and Linda Reid (Richmond East) what they would do if they received a polite tap on the shoulder from their political leader.
Yap, who is full of praise for Clark and her campaigning abilities that led the Liberals to a shock majority government Tuesday, said it is not without precedence that a leader request one of their duly elected MLAs to step aside. Its also not outside the rules.
Well, this is the nature of our Westminster parliamentary system that the leader of a party is also a member of the legislative body, Yap said. And its entirely appropriate in our Westminster model of government that a premier who requires a seat can approach a member of his or her caucus to seek the opportunity to become the MLA for that seat.
Yap was quick to add the results of Tuesdays vote are still too fresh for him to begin considering any immediate changes.
Its barely 24 hours since we secured this victory, and the ballots are still being counted in some of the closer contests around the province. I think we should wait and see how events unfold, he said.
Asked what he would say if the Premier asked him for his seat, Yap said, Were not even 100 per cent sure that her riding of Vancouver-Point Grey has a final decision, because my understanding is the absentee ballots have not been counted.
Also not giving up on the possibility Clark may still pull out a victory in her own riding is Richmond East MLA Linda Reid who said a concerted effort was made by the B.C. Liberal Party to get voters to cast their ballots at the advanced polls and have yet to be counted.
But as far as speculation Reid might make way for Clark given the fact she has served Richmond East through six elections and has a personal history with Clark going back to the late 1980s, Reid was non-committal.
Dont know. Dont know what the future holds, said Reid who as then chair of the Liberal partys caucus hired a young Clark as a researcher.
Asked if she felt asking an MLA to give up their seat would be a fair request given the surprise victory Tuesday night, Reid said the magnitude of the win was significant and much of the credit should go to the BC Liberal Party leader.
Rookie MLA Teresa Wat, who captured the riding of Richmond Centre, said she has not been asked to relinquish her seat, adding it was too early to comment on what her response would be if the request was made.
Wat said she understands the process is a Canadian parliamentary tradition, but stopped short on whether she felt it was a fair one.
I am new to politics, so I have to respect the tradition, Wat said.
