Premier Christy Clark enjoyed campaigning during the election so much shes just going to keep doing it.
Not just for a Westside-Kelowna seat, but B.C.-wide, judging by last Wednesdays appearance.
She hopped out of a minivan at an extended-care home construction project in Saanich and was right back into photo-op mode, chatting up 17 construction workers lined up in front of the TV cameras.
Then she previewed the throne speech for reporters, based on three new themes: giving children more opportunities than we had, caring for those who cared for us and leaving B.C. as beautiful as we found it.
The visual message was unmistakable. She cant take a seat in the legislature to talk about jobs, so shes out where people are working them.
Recalling her election campaign, which was heavy on the hard hats, she said it was a way of paying tribute to the men and women who are building our economy.
At the Saanich site, a joint effort by the Baptist Housing Society and the Vancouver Island Health Authority, she said: I like being here because it reminds me of all of the benefits of a growing economy.
(Back at the legislature later, NDP Leader Adrian Dix brought a hard hat to his media appearance as a gag.)
Clark said the jobs plan that her government has been stressing for almost two years is due for an update. Some parts, like cutting the permitting backlog for some resource projects, have been accomplished, so new targets are needed.
And the new Technology Ministry she created needs to be brought into the picture.
The throne speech later was a short and sweet restatement of the themes that contributed to a B.C. Liberal win last month.
Personal income taxes and the carbon tax will be frozen for five years, as promised during the campaign.
That removes one option if the government finds itself running low to the relief of taxpayers. But it puts more pressure on the cost-cutting and spending constraints.
Liberals are also committed to a 10-year skills training plan that will require major revamps of the school, post-secondary and apprenticeship programs.
The speech said it is essential to ensuring that British Columbians are first in line for jobs.
The huge appetite for skilled trades is one of the major elements in the planning for the liquefied natural gas push. And foreign-worker permits are a touchy subject the government wants to minimize, with an urgent focus on creating a seamless path from kindergarten to work.
Dix waved off questions about how unhappy he might be to be back doing what he was doing before.
Were disappointed but were here to do our job.
And his job Wednesday was to stress how disconnected the throne speech was from the public.
He rapped the Liberals for promising a debt-free future, when B.C.s public debt has increased by $750 million just since the election, according to some calculations.
And for all the talk about jobs, the NDP is developing a keen interest in surveys showing that for nine consecutive quarters, more people left B.C. than moved here.
The month-by-month count shows B.C. is down 30,000 private jobs since Clark became premier, Dix said.
Liberals undeniably connected with people during the campaign a lot better than he did.
But he said the rescinded raises for the political aides and the new wheelchair rental levies in one health authority show Clarks government is failing to connect with whats really happening out there.
