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Liberal Steve Thomson of Kelowna B.C.’s new Speaker in likely short-lived government

Liberal Steve Thomson of Kelowna B.C.'s new Speaker in likely short-lived government | iNFOnews.ca
Steve Thomson, B.C. Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, speaks during an announcement regarding protecting British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest, at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, B.C., on Monday February 1, 2016. A former Liberal cabinet minister is British Columbia's new Speaker of the legislature in what is likely to be a short-term appointment. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VICTORIA – A former Liberal cabinet minister is British Columbia's new Speaker of the legislature in what is likely to be a short-term appointment.

Steve Thomson, the member of the legislature for the Kelowna Mission and a former minister of forests, lands and natural resource operations, was acclaimed Speaker today.

The province's new Liberal minority government could fall in a confidence vote next week.

The Speaker is destined to play a pivotal role in the 87-seat legislature.

The Liberals have 43 seats, one shy of a majority, but the New Democrats, with 41 seats, and the Greens with three seats have agreed to vote together to defeat the Liberals in a confidence vote.

Premier Christy Clark's Liberals table a throne speech today that outlines the government's agenda, even though their defeat is likely.

In the days before the throne speech, Clark has promised plans to raise welfare rates, ban union and corporate donations to political parties, and provide more subsidized childcare spaces.

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Marshall Jones

News is best when it's local, relevant, timely and interesting. That's our focus every day.

We are on the ground in Penticton, Vernon, Kelowna and Kamloops to bring you the stories that matter most.

Marshall may call West Kelowna home, but after 16 years in local news and 14 in the Okanagan, he knows better than to tell readers in other communities what is "news' to them. He relies on resident reporters to reflect their own community priorities and needs. As the newsroom leader, his job is making those reporters better, ensuring accuracy, fairness and meeting the highest standards of journalism.

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