Not a day goes by without the B.C. Liberals demanding their NDP counterparts release details of their election platform, only to be met with stony silence from the party that seems to be a government-in-waiting.
NDP leader Adrian Dix says the party will release its fiscal plan in early April and will announce other various policy positions throughout the election campaign itself.
But an election platform is just one of the ways to gain insight into what an NDP government would bring to the table. Another tool is to look at which individuals may become more powerful than others in such a government.
Most of them will be in the provincial cabinet, but others will exist outside government. The biggest holder of power of all is the premier of course, and if Dix does indeed take that position, it will be interesting to see if he consolidates power in that office as his predecessors have done.
In any event, there will be others who will emerge as the ones who have more political influence than others.
So, barring a miracle comeback by the ruling B.C. Liberals, here is a partial list of those who will likely play key roles in the next administration:
John Horgan; he's the current NDP house leader (a position he will likely keep) and will undoubtedly become energy minister. He's closer to Dix than most (they worked together as senior staff people in the NDP government in the 1990s) and is definitely not part of the environmental wing of the party - which suggests there may be some friction with that group down the road. He's also fairly volatile and can lose his temper easier than most - a trait that doesn't serve cabinet ministers particularly well.
Bruce Ralston; the party's finance critic will likely become finance minister, and his extremely low-key approach will match what will likely be some unexciting budgets as whoever forms government will have a challenge balancing the books for a few years. Ralston will spend a lot of time saying "no" to all kinds of spending requests.
Carole James; Dix owes a huge debt of gratitude to the woman he replaced as leader after a caucus revolt forced her to resign. If James had left politics on an understandably bitter note it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for the NDP to become as united as it has. But James, a class act, has stuck around bearing no grudges and will likely become deputy premier with a major cabinet post, probably education or a social services ministry.
Other current NDP MLAs who will wield considerable influence are former cabinet minister Mike Farnworth, caucus chair Shane Simpson and Sue Hammell, who practically delivered the leadership to Dix through mass membership sign-ups in Surrey.
When it comes to unelected people who will wield some influence over an NDP government, the list includes:
Jim Sinclair; as head of the B.C. Federation of Labor, Sinclair will have considerable influence over a party that is closely aligned to organized labour. His predecessor, Ken Georgetti, was a major power broker in the 1990s NDP government and while Sinclair likely won't enjoy his level of influence, he will still have some (and look for him to push hard for some pro-union labour law changes).
Glen Clark; the former premier is, of course, a mentor of Dix's. The two worked closely together for years, from Clark's time in cabinet through much of his time as premier.
Clark is now Jimmy Pattison's right hand man, and will undoubtedly provide Dix some business-friendly advice (as well as tips on how not to repeat the mistakes of the past NDP government) on a regular basis.
Geoff Meggs; the Vancouver city councillor worked with Dix in the Clark government and there's no doubt Dix would have preferred to see him win the party nomination in Vancouver-Fairview (he lost to George Heyman).
Meggs will be the main back-channel contact on Vancouver city council for a Dix-led government, but it will be interesting to see if Dix offers Meggs a more formal and senior role in that government.
Moe Sihota; the former cabinet minister is president of the NDP, and was closely associated with Clark (and therefore Dix) while in government.
He shares Dix's view that the NDP needs to focus on winning a second term in government and not just one, and therefore can't do much that alienates voters.
Even without an election platform released, these aforementioned folks can show you where the New Democratic Party is headed if they win in May.
Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global B.C.
