While Horgan gears up, Clark hangs in ‘for now’

John Horgan and the NDP couldn’t believe their luck when Christy Clark’s governing Liberals released their re-election platform in April.

The platform was an uninspiring dud, promising little in the way of new spending or exciting new programs. Instead, the Liberals banked on a robust economy and a string of balanced budgets to vault them back into office.

The New Democrats were delighted because they knew they were in position to vastly out-promise Clark on the campaign trail.

That’s exactly what Horgan did, promising everything from $10-a-day child care to wiping out all bridge tolls to eliminating Medical Services Plan premiums and many other commitments.

And he promised to do it all while balancing the budget.

Horgan’s luck has continued since the election, with Clark giving him a very nice gift: A bigger-than-expected budget surplus, which has ballooned to an astonishing $2.8 billion this year.

This will make it easier for Horgan to keep his promises. But even with all that extra loot, I think it’s still going to be difficult for the NDP to deliver on every pledge and keep the books in the black.

With Horgan set to be sworn in as premier later this month, it now sets up as a key challenge for the new NDP government: meeting the skyhigh expectations they have created for themselves.

Horgan has a lengthy list of constituencies and interest groups expecting him to make good on all those promises: Seniors, drivers, parents, environmentalists, renters, students, municipalities, labour unions, health-and-education advocates, anti-poverty activists and on and on.

Some are bound to be disappointed. I suspect Geoff Meggs — the former Vancouver city councillor just hired as Horgan’s chief-of-staff — will be the man saying “no” or “not yet” as the promises come due.

Meanwhile, as Horgan gets set to govern, Christy Clark is getting ready for a new role: leader of the official Opposition.

Clark told a crowd in Kelowna on the weekend that she would stay on their MLA and would “keep fighting” even though she’s out of power.

But could the Liberals turn against her after the underwhelming election effort, not to mention all the desperate policy flip-flops ever since?

“She’s not going anywhere,” former Liberal MLA Bill Bennett told me. “She’s very popular within the B.C. Liberal caucus. Christy is a very strong resilient person. She thrives on being underestimated. You just can’t count her out.”

Liberal MLA Todd Stone — mentioned in some circles as a potential Clark replacement — had a friendly warning for New Democrats about to face a Clark-led opposition.

“I’m sure there will be New Democrat cabinet ministers who will be a bit leery of being on the receiving ends of questions from Christy Clark,” he told CBC Radio. “I can’t think of anyone who would be more effective at holding the incoming NDP government to account.”

But Stone also said this: “The Premier has expressed her desire to — at least for now — stay on as opposition leader.” Asked if he had any interest in the job himself, he said the question was “absolutely hypothetical.”

Clark is indeed Liberal leader “for now” — with plenty of ambitious people watching her every move.