If B.C. New Democratic Party Leader Adrian Dix's career crisis is weighing heavily on his mind, he sure is good at hiding it.
Reporters were camped out in the hallway Wednesday morning as the Opposition convened an all-day caucus meeting.
Dix walked through and the business of collecting non-answers to questions about next week's announcement of his plans was about to start.
But in the blink of an eye, Dix and NDP energy critic John Horgan concocted a spontaneous mock question period about the news of the day -- the leaked discussion paper from B.C. Hydro about the need for a massive rate increase.
It was a dramatic enactment of what might have happened if Premier Christy Clark hadn't cancelled the fall sitting of the legislature the previous day.
Dramatic in the sense that the scenery-chewing pair of hams went over the top in playing to the amused crowd.
Referring to the newly revealed 26 per cent rate hike under discussion at Hydro, Horgan told Dix in shocked tones: "The only people talking about it in the legislature are you and me!"
Dix: "And the premier said that wasn't going to happen. She was personally standing in the way."
Horgan: "She was going to stop it."
Dix: "I have a question."
Horgan: "Please do. Fire away."
Dix: "How could that have happened?"
Horgan: "The premier said everything was fine. The premier said in a byelection in Kelowna that rates wouldn't go up. I've got a question for the leader of the Opposition. How do you sell a balanced budget the day after you learn that Hydro is going to have to give more money to government than they can afford? Doesn't that make it a bogus budget?"
Dix: "I think you are correct. I think your question answers itself and the answer is yes."
Horgan: "I know this is isn't answer period, but we've had two answers in 30 seconds that we haven't heard in the legislature in 12 years."
The exchange goes to show how much fun question period can be when both sides are on the same team. And the focus of the song-and-dance routine was obviously Clark's decision to cancel the fall sitting.
It's just as important for the Opposition to complain about cancelled sittings as it is for them to show up for sessions that actually take place.
Comedy aside, Dix has been intent since the election on keeping the caucus focused on the job of watching the government. He may have lost, but his party was still elected to do a job, even if it isn't the one they wanted. The Hydro rate issue is the prime example this week of a situation that needs watching.
The story for the past few years has been one of a utility that desperately needed to raise rates, but was rebuffed by politicians who didn't want to take the heat before an election.
With Bill Bennett's appointment as energy minister after the election, the story changed. He's been warning rate hikes are coming practically since he was named to the job.
The twist to the tale is that when the leaked document confirmed exactly what he's been saying, he promptly downplayed it and said it won't be the whopping 26 per cent that was discussed by the working group.
In short form, it's obvious to almost everyone that Hydro rates have to go up, for a variety of reasons, including the requirement that it has to fork over a half-billion dollars to the government as a dividend. But the B.C. Liberals are a lot more comfortable admitting that after an election, rather than before.
The most engaging explanation of how B.C. arrived at the present uncomfortable situation involves the time-bomb theory.
Liberals didn't want to hike rates because they didn't want to offend anyone before voting day. They didn't expect to win, so were quite comfortable leaving that inevitable job to the NDP.
Now that they've held on to power, they have to deal with a booby trap that was supposed to go off on the NDP's watch, rather than theirs.
Desperate to make the best of a bad situation, Dix can at least take some amusement in watching from a safe distance.
