A year ago today, there was a burst of laughter midway through the NDP swearing-in ceremony at Government House when the lieutenant-governor remarked that ministers with experience would be counted on for advice.
The laughs started with Mike Farnworth, the new public safety minister. Because he was the only one still around from the last NDP government 16 years before.
There were tears that day, as well. Premier John Horgan and others got choked up at the enormity of it all.
The highs and lows have continued through their first year in power. Significant accomplishments, severe setbacks, triumphs, embarrassments. You win some, you lose some.
Some vignettes from 365 days of NDP minority government:
• The swearing-in was like Christmas in July for Vancouver Island. Five new Island ministers, three of them from the capital, plus a premier from Langford! The patronage parade started soon after, as dozens of Liberal appointees were paid off, replaced by NDP-minded staff. The most noticeable structural change was a million-dollar secretariat devoted to keeping the Green Party caucus in the loop on the government agenda.
• A week later, Petronas formally gave up on its liquefied-natural-gas plant plans. The Malaysian company still has a big upstream investment and was too opaque to blame it on the change of government. But the decision seemed to signal the end of the B.C. Liberals’ LNG dream. The signal was erroneous — Horgan later flipped and put even more inducements on the table than the Liberals to get a plant built.
• Blunder No. 1 — Jobs Minister Bruce Ralston announced the termination of Gordon Wilson from his $150,000 LNG Buy B.C. advocate job. Wilson was expected to go because of his Liberal and Christy Clark links. But Ralston alleged it was for a lack of written reports. He and the premier later apologized, but it prompted a lawsuit from Wilson that is ongoing. (Disclosure: The Times Colonist is named in that suit.)
• Two weeks later, there was rejoicing: Opposition leader Clark lost interest in her new job and quit politics. The resulting shakeup gave the new government some breathing room. So did the dramatic manoeuvre by Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas. He bolted the caucus to become an independent and snatch the Speaker’s chair, tipping the seat count in the NDP’s favour.
• The first session convened with a dramatic 50 per cent cut in MSP premiums. The teams got used to their new positions with parleys over the stall on the Trans Mountain pipeline, the ICBC “dumpster fire,” the ban on big money political donations and the plan for a referendum on proportional representation.
• Rarely has a premier looked as miserable as Horgan did in December when he held a news conference to concede the Liberals’ Site C dam was too far along to cancel. The decision was made strictly on the numbers, but the sentiment within the party ran strongly against the call. He was buried in angry mail for months afterward.
• The legislature resumed in February, fresh off the major revamp of ICBC’s business model. The pace of change quickened on other fronts. A full-scale effort was mounted to chill rising real-estate prices. The foreign-buyer tax was hiked, the speculation tax (Version 1) was introduced and two more taxes were aimed at high-end homes. Finance Minister Carole James stressed the “boldness,” but started retreating soon after.
The other shoe fell on the MSP cut — an employer health tax that shifts the cost directly onto private firms and public entities. Major unhappiness.
• Trouble on the eastern front: The pipeline stall turned into a crisis through the spring after Alberta threatened court action over B.C.’s move to restrict bitumen shipments. Horgan responded by sending it to court himself for a reference question on jurisdiction.
Alberta moved to choke gasoline supplies to B.C. in order to send the pump price soaring. Kinder Morgan eventually gave up, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau moved in to buy the project outright.
B.C. is a different place than it was year ago. Some costs have been lowered, as promised (MSP), but shifted elsewhere. Some promises have evaporated (renters’ rebates). Some relationships have ruptured beyond repair (Alberta).
The NDP has learned the lesson of governing this polarized place — nothing comes easy.
