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NDP off to a good start but clouds loom overhead

John Horgan made a smart decision on his first full day in office as B.C.'s new premier: put the needs of people fleeing the fires first.
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John Horgan made a smart decision on his first full day in office as B.C.'s new premier: put the needs of people fleeing the fires first.

With thousands still displaced by the province's raging forest fires, Horgan took a break from his first cabinet meeting to announce enhanced assistance for those impacted.

Horgan extended the provincial state of emergency by another two weeks, and made an additional $600 available in assistance to those forced from their homes.

Make no mistake: 600 bucks is not a lot for people facing unexpected evacuation costs, not to mention the stress and anxiety of not knowing if your home will survive the flames.

But Horgan was wise enough to make it a priority on Day 1.

And though no one would dare admit calculating the political benefits of a crisis, you can bet NDP strategists are pleased to see Horgan taking steps to help Interior residents first.

One of the NDP's big problems is the party's glaring lack of representation in the rural regions of the province, which Christy Clark's Liberals dominated in the election.

Horgan needs to show he will respond to the concerns and priorities of the sprawling regions that voted against him. A swift response to the wildfires is a good first step.

Horgan, meanwhile, also appears to have resisted the temptation to load up the senior levels of the professional public service with partisan political agents.

Every government picks its own partisan types to fill roles like spin doctors and media manipulators. And the NDP will be no different.

But the top deputy ministers who manage the actual operations of critical public services are a different matter.

Most of those positions have remained intact or were filled through internal promotions.

The Liberals would have rightly screamed if Horgan had brought in an NDP parachute club of partisan hacks to fill those jobs.

It all looks like a steady start for Horgan, who arrives in his new office with some decided advantages.

For one thing, Clark left him some lovely housewarming gifts: a $2.8-billion surplus and a strong economy with just five-per-cent unemployment.

All that money, and all those people working, will help Horgan deliver on his bold promises, and still keep the budget balanced.

The honeymoon is on.

But can the NDP still screw this up?

You bet they can.

Listen carefully when you hear Horgan or Finance Minister Carole James or any other new cabinet minister remind voters that they are still examining the bank accounts and ledger books left behind by the vanquished Liberals.

That kind of talk is meant to soften the public up for a possible budget shortfall. If the NDP breaks its promise to keep the books balanced, they will blame it on the Liberals for not telling the truth about the true state of the province's finances.

If that happens, the honeymoon could be a short one.