ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — There’s a power vacuum at the top of politics in Newfoundland and Labrador, with all parties getting sucked into the vortex.
On Monday, Premier Dwight Ball announced his resignation as leader of the Liberal party, effective once the party holds a leadership convention to replace him. Ball will remain in the Liberal caucus once his replacement is found and resign as MHA for Humber-Gros Morne at the start of the next provincial election.
On Thursday, The Telegram and NTV reported plans being hatched for a coalition government between the Progressive Conservative party, the New Democratic Party, independent MHAs and a number of Liberal MHAs. No formal agreements have been reached, according to sources with direct knowledge of the early discussions.
NDP Leader Alison Coffin says there’s a lot that has to happen between now and an agreement to form a coalition.
“It’s an obvious speculation on everyone’s part, especially when you have so many shifting pieces in our legislature right now. In terms of a coalition government, sure that’s a possibility, but right now my focus is my responsibility in a minority government. Part of that is doing what I’ve been doing all along: working with everyone,” she said.
“There’s been no formal talks that have occurred at this point. Nothing like that. In terms of fizzling out or anything, I don’t think we’re really there. Right this instant, there is a very interesting opportunity, but there is also a pressing need for something different to happen.”
Coffin says part of the reason a coalition is being explored is to potentially avoid an election.
“One of the key messages I’ve been hearing for a long time is that no one wants another election,” said Coffin.
Current legislation suggests an election must be held no more than one year after the resignation of the premier, which in this case would be triggered once a new Liberal leader is selected to succeed Dwight Ball.
The legislation speaks of “the leader of the political party that forms the government” resigning and “the person who is elected by the party to replace him or her” calling an election no more than 12 months later.
There is no specific statement in the legislation on a coalition replacing the resigning premier.
PC Leader Ches Crosbie declined an interview request on Friday, issuing the following statement instead.
“Thank you for the invitation to comment,” Crosbie wrote.
“We do not wish to comment publicly as talks are ongoing.”
Liberal caucus chair Derrick Bragg issued a statement on Friday in an effort to throw cold water on the story.
“All members of caucus have spoke. This is a political rumour and a wrong one at that,” Bragg wrote.
“All of caucus is looking forward to the next session of the House of Assembly to begin March 2, 2020 and in carrying out the agenda of the government for the betterment of the people of the province.”
One of the potential roadblocks for a coalition is the coming leadership race for the Liberal party. Sources suggest the makeup of that race could have an impact on the coalition talks, depending on who enters the running.
So far, no candidates have come forward, but some prospective leadership candidates include cabinet ministers Bernard Davis and John Haggie from within the Liberal caucus. Businessmen Dean MacDonald and Paul Antle have mused about running, while Team Broken Earth founder Andrew Furey has also stated publicly his interest in the leadership. Each prospective candidate has said they will await the rules of the race before making a decision.
Liberal party president John Allan is set to announce the rules for the leadership race and call for nominations on Monday.
@DavidMaherNL
