Days into his new and controversial role as Speaker of the house, Darryl Plecas is flexing a little muscle.
The MLA for Abbotsford South spoke over a swell of chatter that rose in the legislative assembly Tuesday, as Premier John Horgan responded to a question.
“I’m relatively new here, but I learned very early as a child that it’s important to listen when somebody is speaking,” Plecas said, soon after chastising Opposition house leader Mike de Jong for holding a sheet of paper as a prop.
Many eyes are on Plecas, who was ejected from the B.C. Liberal Party Saturday after taking the role of Speaker — a move that lobbed a razor-thin voting balance squarely into NDP-Green hands.
The party standings are now 41 NDP, three Green, 41 Liberal, plus Plecas, plus the vacant seat that was held by former Liberal premier Christy Clark.
The Speaker, who presides over debates and enforces rules of behaviour and protocol, doesn’t vote unless there’s a tie. When Plecas took the role, he gave a three-vote lead to the NDP-Greens.
Those who have experience as Speaker say it’s a tightrope to walk — and that Plecas must balance on a narrower cord than most.
“He has a huge challenge,” said former NDP MLA Dale Lovick, who served as Speaker from 1996 to 1998 and lives in Chemainus.
“The Speaker’s job is analogous to refereeing a hockey game. You may have a favourite team, but your decision can’t be based on that. Your job is to enforce the rules.”
Plecas appears to have the integrity and willingness to sometimes be unpopular that is required for the job, Lovick said.
“His problem is that he has an angry caucus,” Lovick said.
Liberal members demonstrated that Friday, when they gave him an icy welcome and refused to clap for his introduction. Interim Liberal Leader Rich Coleman called Plecas’s move a “betrayal,” but said he could respect the chair without respecting the man in it.
Being Speaker is easier when the government has a clear majority and legislation is expected to pass easily, Lovick said, but that’s not always the case.
“When I became Speaker, that was after an election the Liberals did not think they should have lost. They felt cheated out of government, so they were intractable. They were not terribly co-operative.”
What Plecas will have to do, he said, is demonstrate a commitment to impartiality and build relationships with each MLA. If he can’t, the house will be a raucous and unpleasant place, he said.
Former Liberal MLA Bill Barisoff, who was Speaker from 2005 to 2013, said the Speaker’s biggest challenge is holding the confidence of the house.
“If you lose the confidence of the house, if the members don’t have confidence in you, I think your role as Speaker is diminished immensely,” Barisoff said.
Barisoff demanded respect in one instance, when members were becoming belligerent on both sides of the house.
“I guess I stood up and the gown kind of flared open. As one of the members said to me after, ‘It was like you were parting the seas.’ They could tell I was angry,” Barisoff said.
“I instructed the members to watch the Hansard tape and see how they behaved, so they would understand it was unbecoming of elected members of the province of B.C.”
While some people think the role is ceremonial, Barisoff said it’s more than that. He described his office as a “confessional” where members could feel free to share their concerns openly and confidentially.
Political scientist Michael Prince said he does not see any great crisis or serious problem facing the new Speaker from his former colleagues.
“There will be challenges, of course, yet they will be due mainly to everyone in the house adjusting to their new roles, whether as government, as cabinet ministers, as the official Opposition, as alliance partners, as new MLAs or as Speaker,” Prince said.
“Lots of grounds for some friction.”
