So far, this provinces other two would-be premiers are keeping quiet about what they would do that is so different from the ruling B.C. Liberals when it comes to government spending and taxation.
But how long the NDPs Adrian Dix and the Conservatives John Cummins can remain silent on this key point is unclear. Certainly, as the next election approaches, the pressure will increase for their parties to release a detailed, fully costed platform.
Dix has pledged to do just that, but we dont know yet whether the NDP platform will be made public on the eve of the May 2013 election or whether it will be revealed ahead of that.
As for the Conservatives, they remain a work-in-progress, a party content on blasting the Liberals on all fronts, but unwilling to provide any explanation of what they would do.
This continued vagueness will allow the Liberals to hammer both parties with all kinds of accusations. This past week saw the odd spectacle of two Liberal MLAs Mary Polak and Ralph Sultan holding a news conference to lay out what they saw as Dixs spending promises.
Of course, much of what they said was of the sky-is-falling variety and wasnt terribly accurate. They simply took all kinds of NDP criticisms of Liberal policies, attached a dollar figure to them, and then suggested everything Dix has planned on the spending front is going to occur all at once, in the first year of power.
Dix is on record for boosting health-care spending, but so are the Liberals. Hes promised more money to help university students, wants to hire more judges and has pledged to raise corporate taxes to the levels that were there in 2008.
In other words, rather than the billions of dollars the Liberals insist Dix is about to push off the back of the taxpayers truck, the reality is were talking about a lot less money here.
Nevertheless, there was a telling moment last week when press gallery reporters looking for a few more details about NDP plans were rebuffed by a rather defensive Dix. It was an encounter that will repeat itself again and again as we draw closer to an election.
Similarly, the partys education critic Robin Austin also refused to talk about what an NDP government would do when it came to dealing with the B.C. Teachers Federation. He can get away with that for now, but eventually the NDP will have to make clear where it stands with the teachers union.
As an aside, it will be interesting to see to how the NDP deals with the legislation to impose a contract on the teachers. The previous NDP government also brought in legislation to end labour disputes, so its not like they havent been down this road themselves.
A measure of the NDPs allegiance to the BCTF will be seen by how long it holds the contract law up for debate and whether it uses parliamentary tactics to delay its passage.
As for Cummins, hes been given a free ride for the most part by the media and other political parties. Thats somewhat understandable, given the sorry state of the government.
Still, Cummins has decried the fact the Liberals are increasing spending and piling up debt. Fair enough, but he hasnt explained how he would cut spending without hurting health care, education, the justice system and social programs.
And he hasnt explained which of the many capital projects being built which increase B.C.s debt more than anything else he would cancel.
Cummins and his people clearly want to destroy the Liberal party, and make the Conservatives the sole vehicle for the so-called free enterprise coalition. But achieving that goal requires more than vague and often contradictory news releases and sound bites.
Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global BC.
