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The premier’s indication that he will be talking to ministers over the Christmas break about whether they will be running for re-election raises an intriguing possibility.

Premiers will do that near the end of their term of government with a view to moving the retirees to the backbench and bring fresh faces to the cabinet table.

But the scheduled date for the next election — Oct. 16, 2021 — is still almost two years away. Or is it?

Horgan was asked variations on that question in most year-end interviews, prompted by the pending change of leadership in the NDP’s partner in power sharing, the Green party.

The partnership agreement was signed by the three sitting Green MLAs and it runs to the fixed election date in 2021. But a new leader from outside the legislature would not necessarily feel bound by the terms.

“What will a new leader do? I have no idea,” Horgan acknowledged in an interview with Justine Hunter of the Globe and Mail.

“I’ll just take it as it comes. Whoever emerges as the leader of the Greens, we will sit down and see where we go. But we always have to be ready for an election.”

In the interview with The Vancouver Sun, Horgan also said that whenever the election does roll around, the New Democrats will be seeking to eliminate the Greens and win a majority on their own.

“That’s right, because you can’t fabricate — you can’t construct a minority until after the votes are cast,” he told reporter Shaw. “The NDP historically has been a coalition of interests that come together before an election, so that they can fight to win an election and majorities, and so nothing’s changed in that regard.”