It is a sign of true political mismanagement when a government can offend and alienate even its base of support. But David Eby’s BC NDP administration is hard at it.

As it bargains with its largest union, it has abruptly discovered—stumbled upon, more like it—a term called austerity.

Most of us know this term, but it is far, far off-script from a government that has spent and taxed and restrained prosperity so as to create record debt and deficits—probably $14 billion this fiscal year—and prompted a degrading of the province’s credit rating.

This, a government that inflated the size of the public sector and suddenly signals it can’t afford all the hired hands.

One that took too so long—pretty much until last fall’s election campaign—to recognize the pain of unaffordability for British Columbians and now offers its employees 3.5 per cent over two years as another inflation surge approaches—don’t take my word, the premier is basically warning so.

Now, after high-spending sermons it is preaching fiscal prudence, a “balanced budget bargaining........

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