Vaughn Palmer: David Eby's unnecessary use of 'confidence' votes finally backfires

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Through it all, he was sure that he had the votes on his side — meaning 46 NDP MLAs and the tiebreaking Speaker — to pass the suspension legislation.

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Then Monday, he had to admit that “the math” no longer works for the NDP.

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What happened?

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On Friday, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs denounced Eby himself.

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“The problem is Premier Eby himself,” said Phillip. “The NDP has a colossal leadership problem,” the grand chief, a longtime NDP supporter, told reporters.

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“I would suggest the NDP deal with its leadership problem or it is going to meet its demise as a whole.”

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Phillip then put the premier on notice that he did not have the votes on his side to implement his plan for the Act. He disclosed that his wife, NDP MLA Joan Phillip “does not support the suspension — she’s heartsick.”

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MLA Joan Phillip and Grand Chief Stewart Phillip in 2019. Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG

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Though the grand chief also told reporters that he didn’t speak for his wife, he was delivering the straight goods, as the premier himself soon discovered.

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For as Eby told reporters Monday, he had himself spoken with Joan Phillip and she’d advised him she could not bring herself to vote for suspending the Declaration Act.

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With that, Eby had to abandon talk of a confidence vote because the government would probably have lost the vote and been forced to call an election.

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He also admitted “no one on our side has any interest in sending British Columbians to an election” — because they would probably lose that as well.

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Yet he insisted that something must be done, because of the threat of further court interventions to overturn provincial laws for incompatibility with the principles of the UN Declaration.

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So it is on to the next move, whatever that will be.

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Sounds like some sort of First Nations consultation — presuming any Indigenous leaders will still talk to him — combined with the legislation that will be introduced and passed this session.

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Maybe done in concert with Independent MLA Elenore Sturko. She introduced a bill Monday to repeal the clause in the Interpretation Act that says that provincial legislation “must” be construed as consistent with the UN Declaration.

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Beyond that, I can’t guess at the latest dodge in Eby’s increasingly desperate bid to rescue Indigenous reconciliation.

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“Obviously I would like to be right, first out of the gate,” Eby conceded to reporters. “But that’s not me.”

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He’s right about that.

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I’m thinking the New Democrats might have to attach some sort of locator beacon to the premier regarding his shifting stands on the Declaration Act.

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Maybe give all of us a device like those used to find missing car keys, so we can save time tracking down his latest position.

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