From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   Globe and Mail - June 19, 2015   
      
      
   Everyone's watching Rachel Notley's next move - especially B.C.   
      
      
   Not just big business keeping an eye on her - NDP leaders across the land   
   watching with interest on how she will fare   
      
   It's been years, decades in fact, since the country has regarded politics in   
   Alberta with more than a passing interest.  That's what happens when the same   
   party rules a province for more than four decades; ennui sets in. People know   
   what to expect from    
   the government, regardless of who is leading it at any given time.   
      
   Not any more.   
      
   The Rachel Notley-led victory by Alberta New Democrats has captured the   
   public's imagination.  The idea of a left-leaning party governing what was   
   thought to be the most conservative-minded province in the country couldn't   
   help but get people's attention.   
     Now, everyone is watching to see what Premier Notley and her inexperienced   
   cabinet and caucus will do with all that power.   
      
   And there may not be a province more interested in how it all shakes down than   
   British Columbia.   
      
   In B.C., the Liberals have been in power a third the length of time that the   
   Progressive Conservatives in Alberta were before they were finally taken down.   
   But 15 years is still a long time.  And for each of the electoral triumphs the   
   Liberals have    
   orchestrated over that period, the party has used the same well-worn script:   
   convince a majority of voters that electing the NDP would lead to some sort of   
   financial and social Armageddon.   
      
   It was the same sort of scare tactic that the Alberta Tories used against   
   progressive parties in that province for years - until it suddenly stopped   
   working.   
      
   Now, the New Democrats are starting to roll out their agenda, one that raises   
   corporate income taxes and the personal income taxes of the wealthiest 7 per   
   cent.  The government has also introduced a bill that would ban corporate and   
   union political    
   donations, a move that would level a political playing field that had been   
   unfairly tilted in the Tories' favour.   
      
   Ms. Notley is pressing ahead, too, with a royalty review and has warned that   
   there will be measures instituted to demonstrate Alberta is serious about   
   climate change, an issue her predecessors only addressed with window dressing.   
      
   And beyond all that, the New Democrats have announced they are throwing tens   
   of millions more (over $680 million, in fact) in new money at schools and   
   hospitals and other essential services and have frozen university and college   
   tuition fees.   
      
   What's not to like?   
      
   This is the fun part for Ms. Notley's government: making good on campaign   
   promises, fulfilling the dreams of supporters who never imagined the day that   
   the New Democrats might control the levers of power in the province.   
      
   In raising the corporate tax rate to 12 per cent from 10 per cent, she has   
   already signalled she's prepared to ignore the dire warnings from the oil and   
   gas towers in Calgary that any measures designed to encroach on their profits   
   will spell disaster for    
   the province.   
      
   She will soon announce the terms of reference of an oil and gas royalty regime   
   review, another move that has corporations in the province plenty nervous.   
      
   But these are all things that the New Democrats promised to do, a reform   
   agenda that was backed by a massive majority.   
      
   If Ms. Notley had backed off her biggest and most controversial pledges in the   
   interests of not making waves early on, it would have disappointed far more   
   people than it would have made happy.   
      
   But it's early days in Alberta.  It will only get tougher from here on in for   
   the Premier and her young government.  Everyone will be watching how it all   
   goes, especially in British Columbia.     
      
   NDP Leader John Horgan is doubtless hoping his counterpart in Alberta can   
   demonstrate that it is possible to take a progressive approach to governing,   
   to look after the needs of those too often ignored by governments in favour of   
   big business and the    
   well-heeled.   
      
   There will be many people and political institutions hoping, expecting, Ms.   
   Notley's gang to fail in spectacular fashion.  The Premier will not get the   
   benefit of the doubt from many, especially when it comes to fiscal matters.   
   The first indication that the NDP is losing control of Alberta's finances, the   
   first signs that the province's deficit and debt are ballooning at   
   unsustainable rates - will set off huge alarms.   
      
   Ms. Notley knows that.   
      
   To that end, the Premier announced that her government has enlisted the   
   services of former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge to give it spending and   
   capital investment advice.  This is a savvy move as Mr. Dodge understands the   
   financial challenges    
   facing governments in Canada better than most.   
      
   His hiring is an indication that Ms. Notley intends to avail herself of the   
   best advice possible, in a bid to avoid costly mistakes that can be exploited   
   by her enemies.  Even her critics have to be impressed.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)