Vaughn Palmer: B.C. premier softens his stand on working with some Conservative MLAs, saying it depends on whether they bring hate into legislature

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VICTORIA — Premier David Eby has watered down his threat to ostracize some newly elected B.C. Conservative MLAs, saying his edict will only apply if the newcomers use the legislature to promote the hateful things they said in the past on social media.

The premier initially declared that “there are some MLAs in the Conservative party that we are just not going to be able to work with.”

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He meant “candidates who put things on the ballot that I never imagined would be on the ballot, around just open hatred and discrimination against Indigenous people, against people who are gay, women, Muslims — the list goes on.”

Eby said the New Democrats would apply a “bright line test” to such MLAs, suggesting that the government would shun those whose comments failed the test and crossed the line.

This week he clarified that the test would only apply to future actions, not things that the MLAs had said in the past.

“One of the ways the legislature works for the people of B.C. is by recognizing that our province is stronger when........

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