It may possess a tiny majority in the legislature, but the new NDP government has hit the ground running with a speed that suggests a level of 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.
Horgan’s new deputy, Don Wright, made a number of changes among deputy ministers, but they were based almost entirely on merit and not on political affiliation as some had feared.
The New Democrats also moved quickly to change top level management at two Crown corporations facing significant financial challenges – B.C. Hydro and ICBC (at the auto insurance Crown corporation, the NDP simply got rid of a B.C. Liberal patronage appointment as chair, and appointed former NDP cabinet minister Joy MacPhail as their own patronage appointment).
It appears the NDP brass didn’t spend all those weeks between the day the party reached a deal with the Green party to form a governing alliance and the day the lieutenant-governor asked Horgan to form government taking it easy on the golf course or the beach.
Although the wildfire emergency situation necessarily and understandably has pushed other policy changes down the road a bit, 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.
As I’ve noted here before, a government can get a lot of things done through cabinet orders and regulation changes even if the legislature isn’t sitting, and expect the new regime to take full advantage of those tools.
There has been the occasional hiccup for the new government – Energy Minister Michelle Mungall didn’t know that 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 haven’t seemed to 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 made by the NDP in the aftermath of the 2013 election, which they (and most others) had thought they were going to win.
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. Some of the B.C. Liberals 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.
Still, grappling with the challenges faced by ICBC will be a major task for the new government. There are no easy answers, but I’m sure Horgan and his cabinet will repeat an old adage to themselves over and over again: the worst day in government is still better than the best day in Opposition.
Horgan has sarcastically said he wishes the B.C. Liberals well because being in Opposition is “difficult” but is still an important job. He’s mocked them for being inexperienced at their new role, and his delight in being able to do that is rather evident.
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 BC. Keith.Baldrey@globalnews.ca
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