The government has shown a troubling pattern of letting reviews gather dust
In the chambers of Victoria, a fragile political compact has come undone — not through dramatic confrontation, but through the quiet accumulation of unkept promises. British Columbia's Green Party, having extended its trust to Premier David Eby's NDP government in the form of a stability accord, has chosen not to renew that arrangement, citing a pattern of stalled commitments on health care, transit, and democratic reform. With the NDP holding only a one-seat mathematical majority, the withdrawal of guaranteed Green support transforms the legislature into a space where every vote becomes a negotiation, and the durability of governance itself is now an open question.
- Two Green MLAs who once served as the NDP's legislative lifeline have withdrawn their automatic support, leaving a minority government to navigate each confidence vote without a safety net.
- The Greens documented a damning ledger: two-thirds of the accord's first-year commitments — buses on Highway 99, mental health funding, community health centres — never moved from promise to reality.
- The NDP pushed back, arguing that governing takes time and that some commitments had been honoured, but the Greens rejected fiscal constraints as justification for abandoning care obligations.
- Both parties insist they have no desire for an early election, yet the arithmetic now means a single confidence vote aligned between the Greens and the 39-seat Conservative opposition could bring the government down.
- The only clear winner in this breakdown is the opposition — the Conservatives stand to gain most if instability forces British Columbians back to the polls.
Victoria entered a period of political uncertainty after the BC Green Party announced it would allow its stability accord with Premier David Eby's NDP government to expire without renewal. The two Green MLAs, Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell, had functioned as the NDP's insurance in a 93-seat legislature where the government holds only 47 seats. That insurance is now gone.
The Greens framed their decision as an act of accountability. Valeriote pointed to a catalogue of unfulfilled commitments — no public bus service on Highway 99, a promised $50 million for psychologists in the health system that never arrived, $15 million for community health centres left unspent. Green Leader Emily Lowan said the government's failure to deliver on roughly two-thirds of its first-year goals left no credible foundation for a second year of cooperation. She also criticized what she described as a habit of commissioning reviews only to shelve them, and raised concerns about proposed changes to Indigenous rights legislation, calling reconciliation something that cannot be treated as political convenience.
The NDP responded defensively. Deputy Premier Niki Sharma acknowledged the departure created uncertainty in the legislature but argued that meaningful change simply takes time, and noted that some Green priorities — including ending spousal clawbacks on disability assistance — had in fact been delivered. She also suggested the Greens' unwillingness to rule out voting with the Conservatives on confidence matters was itself a source of the breakdown.
For now, both parties say they have no interest in triggering an early election, and Lowan was clear that the power to call one rests entirely with Eby. But the legislature has entered a new and unstable phase — one where the government must negotiate every significant vote, and where the opposition Conservatives stand as the quiet beneficiary of a partnership that has quietly collapsed.
Victoria woke Monday to political uncertainty. The BC Green Party announced it would let its stability accord with Premier David Eby's NDP government expire next month without renewal, a decision that strips away the mathematical cushion keeping the NDP's one-seat majority functional in the legislature.
The two Green MLAs—Jeremy Valeriote representing West Vancouver Sea-to-Sky and Rob Botterell from Saanich North and the Islands—had been the NDP's insurance policy. With 47 seats in a 93-seat chamber, the NDP needed their votes on confidence matters to survive. Now, those two votes are no longer guaranteed. The Greens will assess each piece of legislation on its merits, they said, voting independently rather than as a bloc.
The rupture came down to broken promises. The Greens catalogued what they saw as systematic failure: roughly two-thirds of the accord's first-year commitments had been "stalled or sidelined," according to Valeriote. He pointed to specifics—no plan yet to run public buses on Highway 99, the promised $50 million to bring psychologists into the health-care system never materialized, the $15 million for community health centres went unspent. Electoral reform, transit expansion, health-care improvements: all languished. "This is what accountability looks like," Valeriote told reporters at the legislature. "It's calling out lack of action."
Green Leader Emily Lowan framed the decision as a matter of trust. "The government's failure to complete two-thirds of its first-year commitments was not a strong foundation of trust to build on into year two," she said. The Greens had wanted to work cooperatively on select confidence matters, she explained, but the NDP was "unwilling to budge." She also criticized the government for what she called a pattern of commissioning reviews and then shelving them, and she took aim at Eby's plans to rework the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act—a move she saw as weakening Indigenous rights for political convenience. "Reconciliation is not a political convenience," she stated.
The NDP's response was defensive. Deputy Premier Niki Sharma said the two parties had simply failed to find common ground, and she suggested the Greens' real problem was their refusal to rule out voting with the opposition Conservatives on confidence measures. "British Columbians don't want an election, they want us to take action," Sharma said. She acknowledged that the Greens' departure "does leave it more uncertain in the house," but she pushed back on the notion that commitments had been abandoned—some things, she argued, simply take longer than a year. She also noted that some Green priorities had been delivered: the government had ended spousal clawbacks for disability assistance, for instance. Botterell countered that fiscal constraints were "not an excuse to walk away from their duty to take care of British Columbians."
What happens next remains unclear. Both the NDP and the Greens insisted they have no appetite for an early election. Lowan was explicit: the decision to call one rests solely with Eby and his government. "The BC NDP has a majority. They can govern, pass budgets, and call an election whenever they choose," she said. Yet the math is now precarious. The NDP holds 47 seats; the opposition Conservatives hold 39, though five Conservative members have broken ranks to sit as Independents. If the Greens vote with the Conservatives on a confidence matter, the government falls. The only party clearly benefiting from this breakdown is the one in opposition.
For now, the accord is dead, and the legislature enters a period of vote-by-vote negotiation. The government that seemed stable just weeks ago must now persuade, cajole, or negotiate its way through every significant vote. The Greens, having lost patience with promises, are watching closely.
Notable Quotes
The government's failure to complete two-thirds of its first-year commitments was not a strong foundation of trust to build on into year two.— Emily Lowan, BC Green Party Leader
The Greens walking away does leave it more uncertain in the house, and British Columbians do not want uncertainty right now.— Niki Sharma, BC Deputy Premier
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did the Greens wait until now to walk away? They signed this accord knowing what they were signing up for.
They gave it a year. They watched the first year unfold, tracked the commitments, and found that roughly two-thirds of them went nowhere. At some point, you have to decide whether you're complicit in broken promises or whether you call it out.
But Sharma says some things take longer than a year. Isn't she right?
Maybe on some things. But buses on Highway 99? That's not a five-year infrastructure project. That's something you either plan or you don't. The Greens are saying the NDP didn't even plan it.
So this is really about the Greens losing faith in the NDP's sincerity?
It's about the Greens deciding that being a rubber stamp wasn't worth it anymore. They had leverage—two votes in a one-seat majority. They could have kept trading that leverage for small wins. Instead, they chose to say: we're done.
What does the NDP lose here?
Certainty. They can still govern, but now every vote is a negotiation. They have to convince the Greens on the merits, or they have to find other support. That's harder than having a partner.
And the Conservatives are smiling?
Absolutely. The NDP and Greens just handed them a chance. If the government stumbles on a confidence vote, the Conservatives benefit without having to do anything.