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Riding a Green tide on Vancouver Island, leader Andrew Weaver led his team to three Green seats, a breakthrough that gives his party the balance of power in the minority Liberal government elected Tuesday night.

The Liberals won 43 seats, the NDP 41, although there are likely to be vote recounts in three ridings, including Courtenay-Comox, won by just nine votes for the NDP. There are also absentee ballots to be counted.

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The final result could take weeks to determine.

If the minority government stands, with the Greens holding the balance of power, it puts B.C. in uncharted territory since the last minority government in 1952.

Weaver, a climate scientist, easily retained his Oak Bay-Gordon Head riding, where he won the first Green seat in B.C. in the 2013 election.

But on Tuesday night, he was joined by Green candidate Adam Olsen, who won in Saanich North and the Islands, and Green Sonia Furstenau elected in Cowichan Valley.