Andrew Weaver resigns as B.C. Green leader
Credit to Author: Rob Shaw| Date: Mon, 07 Oct 2019 18:28:41 +0000
VICTORIA — Andrew Weaver, the Nobel-prize winning climate scientist turned power broker for the B.C. NDP government, is stepping down as leader of the B.C. Green Party.
Weaver announced his decision at the legislature Monday, saying he’d made up his mind months ago, and it was not linked to a recent health scare that forced his brief hospitalization last month.
“It’s time to let another generation take the lead,” Weaver told reporters.
He said that by giving notice now, on the first day of the fall session of the legislature, the Greens will have time to set a leadership race for spring 2020 and the new leader will have more than a year to settle into the role before the next election.
“I thought it was the responsible thing for me to do is recognize a new leader needs time to have their vision shared,” he said. “I mean, I got into this out of principle and in my view I should move aside on this as well.”
The decision appears to have little immediate consequence for the Green-NDP power-sharing deal. Weaver said he has no intention of doing anything to force a new election.
“It is my every intention to ensure the stability of the government remains until the scheduled fall 2021 election,” said Weaver.
Premier John Horgan and Green party Leader Andrew Weaver.
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Premier John Horgan said he was saddened to see Weaver leave, noting that they have become close friends since their confidence and supply agreement in 2017.
“I’m very proud to call Andrew my friend. I wouldn’t have said that five years ago without any doubt,” said Horgan. “I’m disappointed he made the decision, but I absolutely understand and respect it.”
Horgan paused when asked if Weaver’s retirement has given him any thought about his own political future.
“Good question,” he said, before adding any announcement on his own future would come following consultation with his wife.
Weaver’s colourful and outspoken demeanour has made him one of the most well-known politicians in the province.
He is the architect of the B.C. Green Party’s political success, which sees the party hold the balance of power with three seats at the legislature and a power-sharing deal that keeps Horgan’s NDP minority in government.
B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver won’t be running as leader in the next provincial election. He made the announcement during a press conference at the B.C. Legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, October 7, 2019.
Weaver entered B.C. politics by defeating a Liberal cabinet minister in the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head in the 2013 election. He worked long hours to build the party’s brand as its only MLA for four years, before making large electoral gains in the 2017 election, when the Greens won two more seats.
The 2017 election proved a critical moment for Weaver, because his party’s three votes decided the balance of power between the minority Liberal government and Opposition NDP. Weaver inked a confidence and supply agreement with Horgan, helping to topple the government of Liberal premier Christy Clark.
Since then, he’s sparred with the NDP over its pursuit of LNG, fracking of natural gas and approval of the Site C hydroelectric dam. But he’s continued to maintain that the Greens have more interest in working with an NDP government on issues they agree upon than pulling support for the New Democrats and plunging the province into a new election.
Weaver remains on academic leave from his climate professorship at the University of Victoria.
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