Premier Christy Clark says the B.C. legislature will be recalled this summer to pass the government's pre-election budget, which promises to balance the books after four years of deficits.
Clark spoke to a gathering of B.C. Liberal candidates at a Vancouver hotel Thursday, including those who didn't join the 50-member caucus. Thanking the unsuccessful ones, she reminded them that she too lost her bid to win a seat in Vancouver-Point Grey.
Clark indicated earlier that the legislature would not be recalled until she has a seat, which would require a by-election. She has said several B.C. Liberal MLAs have offered to step aside to give her a seat, but the decision won't be made until the final vote tally is in for all 85 constituencies at the end of May.
Preliminary results of the May 14 election have the B.C. Liberals with 50 seats, the NDP 33 and the Green Party one. Delta South independent Vicki Huntington was also re-elected.
Clark renewed her campaign promises to press for the development of liquefied natural gas in northern B.C., to restrict government spending and "find labour peace in our classrooms" while beginning to pay down the growing provincial debt.
Clark told reporters after the speech that the election result gives her a mandate to pursue a 10-year agreement with the B.C. Teachers' Federation, with contract talks with the school districts' bargaining agent set to resume next week.
"There will be calls to spend money," Clark said. "For the next little while, our answer to most of those questions has to be no, not now."
With several municipal council members elected as B.C. Liberal MLAs, Clark said they have the option to take unpaid leave from their council duties rather than resign and trigger local by-elections.