Horgan loses his cool in letter to Clark

Horgan has made progress, but misstep on Site C dam has undone some of that

For a brief moment this week, it appeared the curtain had been pulled back and John Horgan’s frustrations with Christy Clark were pouring out in an angry letter about the Site C project.

“Given your record of misstatements and errors,” the NDP leader wrote the premier, “it is impossible to trust anything you say regarding the Site C project schedules and cost.”

When the text leaked to the news media Tuesday afternoon, the passage came as a surprise. The words, more personal and hostile, were at odds with the premier-like tone Horgan has adopted since the election.

The party leaders said that kind of thing about each other and worse during the heat of the campaign, but Clark’s letter to Horgan on the Site C controversy was respectful, if challenging, and I would have expected the NDP leader to reply in kind.

Plus, the words quoted above were not in the text of the letter when it was released to the press by Horgan’s office.

That version included strong language as well, accusing Clark of mismanaging the hydroelectric dam project and of making “unsupported claims” about the supposed costs associated with the NDP call for a review of Site C. But nowhere to be found was Horgan’s blast at Clark for her “misstatements and errors,” making it “impossible to trust anything you say regarding Site C.”

So it seems the New Democrats had released a misleading version of a letter from their leader on the very day that they were accusing the B.C. Liberal leader of being in error and unworthy of trust.

But happily, the settingstraight was not long in coming from Horgan’s office. The nasty version was an early draft that Horgan himself vetoed as unworthy of his office. He ordered up the second text, tamer but still tough, with a view to that being sent out to Clark.

Then came an “administrative error.” Instead of going with the second letter, someone sent out the first.

Not until the news media began asking questions did Horgan’s staff discover the error and notify Clark’s office that the first letter was being withdrawn and replaced with the second.

It was the second glitch in a week regarding Horgan’s correspondence on Site C.

Last Thursday, Horgan’s chief of staff Bob Dewar briefed Rob Shaw of

The Vancouver Sun on the view that some aspects of Site C — evictions, new contracts — should be put on hold pending a promised review of the project by the B.C. Utilities Commission.

An hour later, it leaked out that Horgan had taken those concerns directly and in writing to B.C. Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald.

Horgan’s letter was not released to the public, nor did his chief of staff know about it. The contents only became public knowledge when released to the press by an anti-Site C advocacy group that received a copy of its own.

Such are the vagaries of transition, particularly when the leader is re-organizing and strengthening his staff in anticipation of taking office as premier.

Horgan, as noted here and elsewhere, has made progress in shaking off the knee-jerk anger of an Opposition leader and adopting the tone of the office he hopes to assume in a month or so.

Already there’s an obvious contrast between his more guarded approach and the freewheeling, provocative style of his partner in powersharing, Andrew Weaver of the Greens. One can readily imagine them working it up into a full-blown good cop, bad cop routine.

As with other aspects of their unprecedented relationship, the balance of tones remains a work in progress.

When the B.C. Liberals announced Wednesday the legislature will be recalled June 22, Weaver put out a statement acknowledging the premier had “finally” done so, and then segued into an upbeat hope that all parties will find a way to work together.

Horgan’s statement was more chippy and, unlike Weaver, he did not acknowledge Clark was still premier:

“By the time Christy Clark finally gets to work on June 22, it will be more than six weeks since British Columbians voted overwhelmingly to replace her,” grumbled the NDP leader. “I’m surprised it’s taken Christy Clark this long.”

The first two weeks were taken up with finalizing the count in one of the closest elections in provincial history. Up to the last weekend in May, New Democrats were still contemplating a judicial recount in one riding.

The outcome remained up in the air until the New Democrats and Greens announced the terms of their partnership on May 30.

Though some observers — me included — argued Clark should bow to the inevitable and resign as premier, Horgan and Weaver both acknowledged her constitutional right to submit to a confidence vote.

MLAs of all parties were then summoned to Victoria to take the oaths of office this week. The house has now been recalled with the usual two weeks’ notice.

Once it convenes, the Liberals in my view should forgo delaying tactics, put up one of their own to serve as Speaker for the duration of what should be a short session, and submit to a confidence vote without further ado.

But as Weaver noted, it is not up to one party alone to establish a better tone — they all need to work at it.

The words, more personal and hostile, were at odds with the premier-like tone Horgan has adopted since the election.