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Crack whip essential to survival of narrow minority government in B.C.
VANCOUVER — Gerard Janssen remembers the day then-premier Glen Clark was left pounding on a locked door after arriving late for a vote in the British Columbia legislature.
Clark’s blunder in May 1997 nearly lost the government the vote. Janssen, the party whip, punished the New Democrat premier with four nights of house duty and a cancelled trip to New York.
Not even the most powerful person in provincial politics was above sanction by Janssen, who as whip ensured politicians were in the house when they needed to be.
“Members are members,” Janssen said in a recent interview. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a cabinet member or if you’re a premier. You’re an MLA. You have a responsibility to the caucus and you have a responsibility to British Columbians.”