The first job of MLAs returning to the legislature today is to disguise how they feel about it.
After accomplishing what almost no one thought possible, B.C. Liberals are supremely confident and ebullient in their outlook. Gracious winners come off better than the alternative, so they may make an effort to tone it down a bit.
But it’s going to be difficult. The May election was a historic upset for a party that was counted down and out for more than a year before the vote. It will be almost impossible to hide how delighted and satisfied they are with the outcome.
And the New Democrats, of course, have the opposite problem. They assumed everyone was right and they would be in power after May 14, only to have victory snatched away.
Instead of executing the transition plan they spent the better part of a year devising, they now have to conduct some kind of dismal forensic investigation into how they blew it. So they’ll slouch back to their assigned seating on the losers’ side of the house. Hiding their sullen disappointment is the order of the day on the Opposition side.
The one shred of satisfaction they have is that they defeated Premier Christy Clark in her former riding. Look for Vancouver-Point Grey MLA David Eby to take a victory lap of some sort. It’s the only opportunity the NDP will have to applaud for the duration of the session.
There are only two items on today’s agenda, the election of a Speaker and the delivery of the throne speech.
Richmond Liberal MLA Linda Reid is considered a frontrunner for the Speaker’s chair. She’s the longest-serving MLA in the house and one of the lowest-profile ones. She was a minister of state in the first two B.C. Liberal terms, but has lately been deputy speaker.
Custom holds that every MLA is in the running for Speaker unless they rule themselves out. All but a handful had opted out by Tuesday afternoon. But even if it is a contested election, Reid looks like a safe bet.
The throne speech is expected to be one of the shortest on record, since the government just delivered one in February to start the last session. It’s expected to be a pro forma introduction to the business at hand, which is simply to finish the budget debate that was cut off by the start of the election campaign.
To the extent that it repeats the themes expressed in February, it will dwell on the fiscal-discipline idea. That sounded lofty when used rhetorically, but it has taken a beating lately at ground level.
Clark herself undercut the idea by approving wage hikes for ministerial staff. It prompted enough controversy that she backed down and rescinded them last week.
And one of the health authorities was caught handing out raises that go against that policy, which cost the CEO her job.
In the previous throne speech, the government congratulated itself for its courage in maintaining discipline.
“Our province has remained resilient and has been protected from much of the instability that surrounds us. The course your government has charted is rooted in discipline, perseverance and innovation.
“Controlled government spending is keeping taxes low and reducing the deficit.”
Finance Minister Mike de Jong signalled Tuesday that deficit-fighting is going to be even tougher than was first projected.
The $44-billion budget that he tabled in February had a razor-thin $199-million surplus forecast. De Jong said downward pressures mean that margin will be even smaller.
The one-month session will amount to various exercises in putting up facades.
The Liberals will make a token effort not to be too gleeful.
The NDP will try not to show how much it all hurts.
Clark will try to hide her disappointment that she can’t sit on the front bench to enjoy the show.
And de Jong will try not to show how much he is sweating out the execution of his budget, if not the passage of it.
