Premier-designate Lorne Doerkson faces time crunch to get tax cuts done in first 100 days

Premier-designate Lorne Doerkson will have plenty of decisions to make in the coming days as he looks to carry out some of the B.C. Conservative’s election promises, including a large income tax cut that he says is his first legislative priority.

Doerkson has floated the possibility of a fall legislative session but there seems to be some disagreement among insiders if that is realistic given the need to appoint a cabinet, make changes to the public service and get legislation drafted for introduction in the legislature.

Doerkson has some other priorities as well that he said will be a priority of his first three months in government.

“On Day 1, we will launch an independent review of the province’s finances. The deficit, as you know, is nearly $14 billion, and B.C. has had eight credit downgrades in three years,” said Doerkson on Sunday, in his first news conference since decisively winning the election, earning as many as 63 seats and sweeping Metro Vancouver south of the Fraser River.

“We need to know where things stand. Before we table a budget, you will have the full picture, and within the first 100 days we will stand up the expert (health) commission on keeping our emergency rooms open and cutting wait times.”

Other priorities, such as repealing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, he said can wait until the spring.

Former B.C. Liberal premier Christy Clark, who was involved in the Conservative election effort, said she expects there will be a fall session, even if it’s to just get the tax cut passed, which would see the basic personal exemption raised to $32,000.

She said the first day as premier is the best that politics gets and hopes Doerkson enjoys the coming days before the hard work of actually governing begins.

“I think they’ll do a fall sitting because they want to demonstrate the urgency, they want to respond to the sense of urgency in terms of fixing the economy,” said Clark. “I think they’ll treat this as though we’re in an economic emergency and help is on the way, and they’ll want to deliver that as soon as they can.”

A Conservative strategist, however, told Postmedia News that they don’t believe there is enough time to call a fall session given everything there is still to do.

“By the time the votes get certified, and everything else, you’re in mid-November,” they said. “Are you really going to give someone a portfolio and give them four days to learn it?”

They said that promises like the tax cut can be brought in as part of the February budget and then made retroactive to still give people a break on their income taxes this year.

In terms of the process of undergoing a transition from one government to another, Geoff Meggs, former chief of staff to the late NDP Premier John Horgan, said there is a lot to do in a very short time. Meggs was brought in by Horgan in 2017 when the NDP began the process of forming government and taking over from Clark.

He said that having a competent transition team is crucial, pointing to the role Bob Dewar, Don Wright and Eugene Kostyra played in getting the new NDP government up and running, from interviewing members of the public service for roles as deputy ministers to assisting in filling a cabinet, hiring political staff and setting the government’s agenda.

“Kostyra required everybody to be in the office early every morning, and, by 9 a.m., ready for a roundtable meeting. Everybody would explain what was on their plate, get their assignments, and go and do them until late in the afternoon when they might be able to check back,” said Meggs.

“Very, very quickly, within hours, Kostyra wanted documents flowing to Horgan for his decision, and the senior leaders, the transition team, will be taking that material to the premier to get his decision on how to proceed on various fronts, including personnel matters and all that kind of thing.”

A member of the public service said the appointment of Kim Henderson, former deputy minister and head of the public service under Clark, as the Conservative’s transition chair is a sign the party is prioritizing institutional knowledge and stability.

Jock Finlayson, chief economist for the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, said the business community will be expecting the new government to work quickly to fulfil its promise to open up the economy to investment and cut taxes.

“The new government will face two big challenges in realizing its economic goals. The first is dealing with the unprecedented fiscal mess left behind by David Eby. The province will be operating with tight fiscal limits in place for the rest of the decade,” said Finlayson.

“The second major challenge is managing relations with First Nations, particularly given the Conservatives’ plan to rescind DRIPA. Contrary to the expectations of its proponents, DRIPA has not delivered positive results for British Columbians generally — it has become a source of division and led to even more legal uncertainty.”