It comes after David Eby's newly elected government eliminated the stand-alone Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, which advocates say had no "teeth."

Premier David Eby says "kitchen table" issues in British Columbia will be the focus for his revamped, postelection cabinet that was sworn in on Monday.

Premier David Eby said he could sense the spirit of former British Columbia premier John Horgan at a swearing-in ceremony Wednesday for 47 New Democrat members of the legislature.

Two newly elected members of British Columbia's Green Party will officially take their seats in the legislature following the first of three swearing-in ceremonies since last month's provincial election.

Horgan served as B.C.'s New Democrat premier for five years before stepping down in 2022, then was appointed ambassador to Germany last year.

Eby told reporters Tuesday that he's open to working with opposition-in-waiting B.C. Conservatives — so long as they respect the "bright line" of rejecting hate, division and conspiracy.

But Elections BC says two seats are subject to automatic judicial recounts because the results in the ridings of Kelowna Centre and Surrey-Guildford are too close.

Neither Premier David Eby's New Democrats nor John Rustad's B.C. Conservatives emerged from the weekend with the magic number of 47 seats required to form a majority in the province's 93-seat legislature.

After last weekend's inconclusive election result, B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau said Wednesday that she spoke briefly with NDP Leader David Eby, while a call from B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad went unanswered.

British Columbia's redrawn political landscape won't be settled for about a week, with manual recounts triggered in two key ridings after a nail-biting provincial election that has yet to produce a clear winner.