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The premier of a province doesn\\u2019t actually have the authority to call an election. Authority to dissolve the legislature and call an election resides with the Lieutenant Governor.

Ordinarily, the Lieutenant Governor would call an election at the request of the premier. In unusual circumstances, such as those that currently exist in British Columbia, she will have a choice to make.

The circumstances where a request for an election could be refused by the Lieutenant Governor were described by Sir Alan Frederick Lascelles, a private secretary to King George VI. They are referred to as the Lascelles Principles:\\xa0

1)\\xa0 \\xa0 The existing Parliament was still vital, viable, and capable of doing its job;

2)\\xa0 \\xa0 A General Election would be detrimental to the national economy;

3)\\xa0 \\xa0 He could rely on finding another Prime Minister who could carry on his Government, for a reasonable period, with a working majority in the House of Commons.\\xa0

These principles were articulated in relation to the British Parliament but would be applicable to Canadian legislatures. The second principle has been restated as detrimental to the public interest, rather than just economic interest.\\xa0

There are two historic examples of a request for an election being refused by a Governor-General.

In 1926, Canadian Prime Minister King asked then Governor-General Byng to dissolve parliament and call an election. The Governor-General refused and, instead, permitted the leader of the Conservative Party to form a government.\\xa0

In 1939, the Prime Minister of South Africa lost a vote to keep South Africa neutral in World War II. He asked the South African Governor-General to call an election. The Governor-General refused, the Prime Minister resigned, and the former minister of justice formed a government. South Africa joined the war against Germany.\\xa0

Currently, in British Columbia, the BC NDP and BC Liberal Party each have 41 seats. The Green Party has 2, there are 2 independents, and one former BC Liberal seat is now vacant.

Because an election in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic might be viewed as being contrary to the public interest, if there was an alternative coalition presented to the Lieutenant Governor, she would need to choose between this, and calling an election, should there be a request for an election by the current premier.\\xa0

Also discussed on the show is a case of a marriage annulment being granted on the basis that the husband was impotent and unable to consummate the marriage, despite numerous attempts. The husband unsuccessfully opposed the annulment and was also required to pay his former wife costs for the court case.\\xa0

Finally, on the show, the case of a woman who falsely claimed to have been residing with a man for more than two years in order to qualify as his common-law spouse for the purpose of inheriting his home is discussed. The deceased man\\u2019s only son, who was abandoned as a child, successfully demonstrated that the woman hadn\\u2019t been residing with his estranged father for two years and, in so doing, inherited the house.

Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.\\xa0