B.C. Green leader spoke with NDP's Eby, but didn't pick up when Conservatives called

The leaders of British Columbia's New Democrats and B.C. Conservatives have received the cold shoulder after looking to start minority government talks with the Greens following last weekend's inconclusive election result, party leader Sonia Furstenau said Wednesday.

She said she spoke briefly with NDP Leader David Eby on Wednesday and described the exchange as a "conversation," while a call from B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad went unanswered.

"I didn't recognize the phone number," said Furstenau at a news conference flanked by two Green members elected Saturday, Rob Botterell, in Saanich-North and the Islands, and Jeremy Valeriote, from West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.

Rustad told CTV News Wednesday that he called Furstenau twice on Tuesday, and left a message with his number the first time.

“I called her once in the early afternoon – left a message and my number,” he said. “I called her again last night at around six hours later and she didn’t pick up, so hopefully I'll get an opportunity to connect at some point here.”

Rustad said he plans to call Furstenau again Thursday if he doesn’t hear back before then

The NDP is elected or leading in 46 ridings and the Conservatives in 45 following Saturday's election, both short of the 47 seats required for a majority, although the final count will be held this weekend along with two recounts.

"The B.C. Greens have played an important role in the legislature for the past seven years and we will continue to do so in this parliament and future parliaments in B.C.," said Furstenau. "Right now, in B.C., no party deserves all the power."

She said the starting place for the Greens to support whichever party comes to power in B.C. is her own party's platform.

But Furstenau said it was too early to discuss Green election platform issues, which include continued support for B.C.'s carbon tax, increased voluntary care of people with mental health and addiction issues and no future liquefied natural gas project approvals.

"Meaningful conversations will happen after all the votes are counted," she said.

Furstenau said comments made by some B.C. Conservative candidates who won their ridings are truly disturbing, including racist, dehumanizing, homophobic and conspiratorial statements.

"I have yet to see a satisfactory response from John Rustad around this," she said. "Elected representatives have a serious burden and responsibility to hold themselves to a high standard and to see themselves as representatives for everyone in their communities. It's John Rustad's responsibility now to ensure his caucus understands the seriousness of the burden of being an elected representative."

Rustad said Wednesday that he looks forward talking with Furstenau, but he has no plans to condemn any of his candidates' comments.

“The voters have spoken in terms of electing people, and you either believe in democracy or you don’t," he said. "I believe in democracy and the voters had an opportunity to have a say."

He also said he is interested in exploring options for some form of agreement with the Greens, if the ultimate seat count means no party has a majority.

“We’re open to having discussions and I very much look forward to it,” Rustad said.

If the election outcome remains the same, the two elected Green members could hold the balance of power, and Furstenau said her goal until all the votes are counted is to help those candidates get settled into the legislature.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Robert Buffam