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“It doesn’t work like that,” said Weaver. “The power we have is saying we lost confidence in government. But we want to make this work. So it’s tough being in opposition in the position we are.

“We’re not elected to, on every issue, say government must fall. That’s outrageous.”

Weaver said he will try to persuade the NDP to change course through public criticism.

“I point things out whenever there is an opportunity on issues,” he said. “We frankly need to embarrass the NDP on this file to actually do it (ride-hailing). We’re trying to pull them along into the right direction.”

The government announced July 16 a “community benefit agreements” program on major provincial building projects. It was billed as a way to encourage more women, Aboriginal people and apprentices on taxpayer-funded work. The Greens support that, but not a clause that requires any worker join one of the NDP’s selected union partners within 30 days of entering a job site.

“You can have a community benefit agreement whether it’s union or non-union,” said Weaver. “To say it must be union, it strikes of paying back political favours and is very troubling.”

The union-only construction rules are similar to a 1990s NDP program that critics said amounted to patronage for the public sector unions that support NDP election campaigns. However, union and corporate donations are no longer allowed under a law the NDP passed law year.

The government also announced last week it will not allow companies like Uber and Lyft to operate in B.C. until at least September 2019, despite an initial promise to allow them in 2017. Weaver tweeted a picture of a colleague waiting at Vancouver’s airport with dozens of other people for a taxi, saying it “sends an embarrassing signal to the world.”