British Columbians haven’t had a minority government for 60 years.

But with important decisions affecting people’s lives often made behind closed doors by the ruling majority, independent candidates in the May 14 election say it may be a good idea to have one again. Since a minority government has to rely on the support of smaller parties and independents in order to survive, they argue that British Columbians could be better served under these circumstances.

With a minority government, the ruling party needs to make a good argument for its policies, according to Jaime Webbe, who’s running as an independent in North
Vancouver–Seymour.

“They can’t just have these closed-door caucus discussions and come out and say, ‘This is going to be the policy,’ ” she told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview. “And because they have a majority, they can push it through regardless of what any other MLA says.”

An expert on climate change and the mother of two young children, Webbe works as a consultant for United Nations agencies. The 35-year-old candidate said, “My ideal situation is to have a minority government that’s forced to collaborate to bring some cooperation back to the provincial process.”

There are 85 legislative seats up for grabs, and a party needs to win 43 to form a majority government.

W. A. C. Bennett’s first Social Credit government was elected as a minority government in 1952. It lasted less than a year, and the province has been ruled by majority governments since 1953.

Although New Democrats appear to be headed toward a strong majority on May 14, Bob Simpson, a former NDP MLA and now the independent Cariboo North incumbent, suggested that a minority outcome is “conceivable”.

“It’s how the votes split in each of the ridings, and Gordon Campbell saw that in 1996 when he won the majority vote but didn’t win the majority of the seats,” Simpson told the Straight in a phone interview. In that election, Campbell and the B.C. Liberal Party got 42 percent of the votes but took only 33 seats of the 75 seats up for contention. The B.C. NDP took 39 seats and formed government, even though their share of the vote was 39 percent. The Reform Party of B.C. and Progressive Democratic Alliance won three seats between them.

Simpson said that it’s possible that as many as four independents may win on May 14, as well as two to three Greens and two members of the B.C. Conservative Party.

“If they held the balance of power in a minority situation, I think it would help to get some of our democratic system back up and running again,” Simpson said.

In the 2009 election, Arthur Hadland ran as an independent and placed second in Peace River North. The Peace River Regional District director is running again as an independent. “A minority government would be really powerful,” Hadland told the Straight by phone. “I think that’s the closest to the definition of democracy in our Canadian parliamentary system.”

When the election writ dropped on April 16, UBC’s Sauder School of Business Prediction Markets projected the following distribution of the 85 seats: B.C. NDP, 54; B.C. Liberals, 22; Conservatives, five; Greens, two; and others, two.

Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington could make history next month if she becomes B.C.’s first elected independent representative to win a second term. Although she does “not necessarily” hope for a minority government, she indicated that it would be a “wonderful thing” if there is one where independents hold the balance of power.

“My ability as an independent lets me work equally well with either party,” Huntington told the Straight by phone when asked if she would prefer a B.C. Liberal or a New Democrat minority government. “That’s the beauty of being independent. I think the government has forgotten its democratic role. Whether this election smartens it up or not doesn’t really matter in terms of how I would work for my riding.”

The results of an online survey released on April 16 by Angus Reid Public Opinion show that 61 percent of its 804 randomly selected respondents say that it’s time for a change of government in B.C. The New Democrats led the poll with 45 percent support from voters compared to 28 percent for the B.C. Liberals. Conducted on April 12 and 13, the survey has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Wendy Bales is a director of the Fraser Valley Regional District. She lost the B.C. NDP nomination in Abbotsford-Mission and she’s now running as an independent.

Bales noted that she’d like to see provincial politics conducted as in many local governments where the party system isn’t deeply rooted and representatives don’t have to toe a party line. “It’s just a ‘majority rules’ as far as what gets done,” Bales told the Straight by phone.

She’s also worried that a huge majority win for a party will mean less interest in looking at electoral reform going forward.