A protest rally this past weekend served as another reminder that a whole bunch of New Democratic Party supporters are in for a rude awakening if their political party wins the May election.
About 200 people gathered outside Premier Christy Clark's constituency office, demanding more government money for a comprehensive child-care plan.
If the NDP does indeed form the next government, I suspect a similar demonstration will eventually take place outside NDP leader Adrian Dix's constituency office.
That's because Dix has signalled he knows the government cupboard is bare, and has already indicated his plans for a province-wide child care program are dead in the water, at least for a while, because the money simply isn't there to fund one and the federal government needs to come on board, and it too is grappling with budget issues.
But the lack of an expensive child-care system isn't the only issue sure to disappoint the various interest groups that support the NDP over the B.C. Liberals and who can be depended upon to come cap in hand to whichever party forms government in May.
Teachers, for example, may get a slight pay hike from an NDP administration, but not one that comes anything close to what they've been demanding from the provincial government for years.
And they'd be wise to lower expectations when it comes to significantly more funding for the classroom - there will be some, but not a lot.
There will be some pro-union changes to labour legislation, but unionized public sector workers shouldn't expect any significant pay hikes any time soon.
Don't look for much of an increase in social assistance rates either.
This is nothing new for the NDP - when it formed government in the 1990s it actually cracked down on the welfare system.
And the NDP has decried the level of child poverty in this province for years, but again, I'll be surprised if much action is taken on that front for at least a few more years and the state of government finances improves.
Wait times in the health-care system are not going to radically change no matter which party wins in May.
I suspect the NDP's election platform will commit more money than the B.C. Liberals' current budget, but even that amount will simply maintain the status quo.
I've noted before that one large constituency that usually supports the NDP may be particularly upset with the party.
That would be the
environmental movement which, among other things, wants a ban on fracking to extract natural gas.
The NDP's energy critic, John Horgan, says his caucus has committed to a study on fracking, but that's about it.
He's mindful of the vital role natural gas revenues
play in paying for government services, from health care to education, and I doubt an NDP government would do anything to stifle the money that could flow from that critical industry.
Governments of all philosophical stripes are becoming desperate for more revenues, which naturally sets the stage for a clash between environmentalists and whichever party forms government, as the extraction and sales of natural resources is the backbone of the economy. About the only sec-tor that might notice some significant differences between an NDP administration and the B.C. Liberal government is post-secondary education.
Dix has made it clear he considers that skills training and student aid are his top priorities, and has committed a large pot of new funding for those areas.
But that's about it folks. For all the criticism the NDP throws at the B.C. Liberal government on a near-daily basis for a lack of funding here, a lack of spending there, things aren't going to change much after the May vote even if the party takes power.
The conundrum of what to do about B.C. Ferries is a good example.
This past week, the party's critic for that company was unable to offer any specifics for what the NDP has planned for ferry services in this province.
There was no commitment for increasing the tax subsidy for B.C. Ferries, or doing anything to reduce fares or make changes to service levels.
So all those special interest groups can stick their hands out all they want if the party they appear to be backing actually takes power, but it doesn't mean much of anything will actually be handed out to them.
All of this means that, should Dix become premier, demonstrations outside his constituency office may be rather commonplace. And those doing the protesting will be the same folks who voted for him.
Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global B.C. Email him at Keith.Baldrey@ globalnews.ca.
