John Horgan Day: Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Get ready for the Big Bang, B.C.

For Horgan, time is of the essence. He will have to go big and go fast, as Dave Barrett did and as Glen Clark also tried to do with his scant majority, while also learning from their mistakes, most of which were attitudinal in nature. The latter could have been one of B.C.’s truly great premiers, in my opinion, had he simply adopted a more collegial tone, as he was probably among the smartest and most skilled communicators ever to hold that office in our province.

Gordon Campbell learned the hard way in government that tone is easily as material to success as substance. His tonal shift after his “Maui incident” was key to his party’s reelection in 2005 and 2009.

By contrast, the two premiers Clark—Glen and Christy—were both too self-assured, unnecessarily oppositional and polarizing, and utterly devoted to wedge-politics-as-war.

The words “humility”, “contrition”, and “sorry” were simply not in their dictionary.

Horgan would do well to put his trust in British Columbians’ capacity for forgiveness and understanding. Voters respect honest, decisive leadership, laced with humility, that is undaunted by the political risks of endeavouring to execute worthy aspirations.

They appreciate leaders who own up to their errors of policy and judgement, if it is apparent that their hearts and their public priorities are mostly in the right place. I suspect that Horgan understands that very well indeed.

I expect he will rapidly demonstrate that he is the real deal: a reluctant leader who only became our premier because he dared to stand up for needed progress when others didn’t, wouldn’t, or couldn’t. A leader who has all the ingredients necessary to be a very successful premier: vision, aptitude, intelligence, experience, street smarts, guts, conviction, relatability, integrity, a personable and likable nature, and a flair for grassroots communication.

He will be well-assisted by his capable senior advisers and his eclectic and well-qualified elected team, including his two immediate predecessors, Adrian Dix and Carole James.

Both of those former NDP leaders had their own style and strengths.

Their very different assets were obviously not quite enough to successfully see them through the crucible of their campaigns, into the premier’s office. But they will certainly imbue their new government with an unprecedented bench strength of proven leadership that will be invaluable to it and to all of their colleagues.

I applaud them both for sticking to their guns and staying the course, to advance the broader enterprise that they will now so directly effect, as leaders in Horgan’s cabinet. 

They, too, made a big bang for the social democratic values that allowed the NDP’s star to prevail, when so many predicted it would sputter out, following the 2001 election.

They both deserve a thunderous ovation on Tuesday, as they are called upon to move their ideas into action, in whatever ministries they are asked to lead.

The Big Bang: it is such a wonderfully evocative onomatopoeic misnomer for the beginning of space and time. It actually occurred without a sound, precisely because neither of those phenomena previously existed.

As we learned from the movie Aliens, in space no one can hear you scream. The B.C. Liberals are about to discover that, as they float across the far reaches of the legislature, still stranded in suspended disbelief.

Already they are apparently pointing fingers at each other, and mostly at their wholly discredited figurehead.

Journalist Bob Mackin has reported that Peter Fassbender (above) blamed Christy Clark for the B.C. Liberals ending up in opposition.

Another big bang silently transpired last week in Vancouver and Surrey, as theBreaker’s Bob Mackin exclusively divulged. Although none of the mainstream media reported it, it could spell the beginning of the end for that dying comet known as Christy Clark.

It seems she was royally shredded by senior party members and various former cabinet ministers, staffers, lobbyists, and other disgruntled acolytes, for plunging her party back into the void of opposition.

Ah, how fickle fortuna can be in a Machiavellian cosmos without virtù. 

She has fallen so far, so fast. It already seems like light years since former Vancouver mayor and then newly elected MLA, Sam Sullivan, so famously basked in her glow with those immortal words: "I'm stunned. All I can say is Christy Clark is a god. She made a miracle."

Big bang be damned. As her sad cosmos unfolds, it seems she may be destined to go out with a whimper. Her orbit ain’t what it used to be and it won’t hold together for long, is my guess.

In the meantime, John Horgan would be wise to heed the Buddha’s eternal guidance: “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.”

On Tuesday, his party will at least avoid the second of those pitfalls, and all I can say is, hallelujah.

Like the song goes, “this is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.” Sing it, N-dippers. You earned this moment. Let it resonate across Canada with clarion force.

http://www.straight.com/news/937331/martyn-brown-get-ready-big-bang-bc