It may possess a tiny majority in the legislature, but the new B.C. NDP government has hit the ground running with a speed that suggests a confidence that exceeds the tightness of the seating plan in the house.
The new government of Premier John Horgan has been quick to raise social assistance rates, double the financial assistance for those evacuated because of wildfires, fire more than 100 staff thought to be too closely tied to the previous B.C. Liberal government and hire dozens of their own political supporters.
It also moved quickly to change top level management at two Crown corporations facing significant financial challenges – B.C. Hydro and ICBC.
Although the wildfire emergency situation, necessarily and understandably, has pushed other policy changes into the background, don’t be surprised if there is a whirlwind of cabinet orders and staffing changes throughout the summer as we await the recall of the legislature in September.
There has been the occasional hiccup for the new government – Energy Minister Michelle Mungall didn’t know her government had fired B.C. Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald, which was fairly embarrassing, and not all ministry offices are even functional right now – but, by and large, the party seems to be settling into its new role just fine.
The same cannot be said about the B.C. Liberals, who after 16 years in power, seem baffled by what is expected from an Opposition party. Judging by comments by some of their MLAs on social media, they don’t seem to have come to grips yet with the political reality that has now taken hold.
In fact, the B.C. Liberals should be careful not to repeat a critical mistake by the NDP in the aftermath of the 2013 election.
The NDP, for quite a while, seemed to regard the election outcome as some sort of fraudulent affair, and many of their members refused to view the B.C. Liberal government as legitimate. The B.C. Liberals, some of them anyway, seem to be taking the same attitude this time around.
They also seem to be struggling with how to attack the new government. A strange news release late last week lambasted the new government over an internal ICBC report that painted a very bleak picture of the Crown corporation’s precarious financial situation and suggested major action – including potentially big rate increases – is required to fix things.
The trouble is, the report was commissioned by the B.C. Liberals when they were still in power and every single problem uncovered by the report occurred on their watch, not the NDP’s.
The B.C. Liberals should get their heads around the fact they’re not in government anymore. The other guys are, and they’re moving fast.
Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global B.C.
