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B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan surged from 35 seats last election to 41 elected seats, and 39.9 per cent of the popular vote, as his party made major gains in the Metro Vancouver suburbs, Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey and the Tri-Cities.

The B.C. Greens grew to three seats, with Leader Andrew Weaver holding his Oak Bay riding, while also picking up new seats in Cowichan, and Saanich North and the Islands, with a popular vote of 16.65 per cent.

Clark attempted to put the best spin on the results initially, but also acknowledged; “Voters always know best, and they reminded me tonight we are far from perfect.”

“We have been presented with an opportunity by British Columbians to open a whole new dialogue in our province, in our legislature, a dialogue about how we do things, what we should do, how we want to shape the future of our province,” Clark said.

“Tonight is the beginning of something very different and something I think could be really exciting about the future of our province and kids.”

She said as protectionism mounts south of the border, Liberals must listen to voters who are telling them to “get along” better with the other parties.

“I will work with the other parties to do what needs to be done to keep fighting to protect” B.C., she said to a large round of applause.

Late Tuesday, Clark spoke to Green Leader Andrew Weaver by phone. She did not speak to NDP Leader John Horgan, a Liberal insider said.

Clark thanked her son Hamish during her speech. “Having a mom in politics is just not easy,” she said. The crowd laughed when he responded, “It sucks.”