Was Premier Christy Clark's odd foray into Alberta a shrewd bit of hard-nosed politicking, or simply a bizarre and poorly calculated misadventure?
Given that nothing she does seems to translate into a boost in support for her leadership, I suspect the answer for many people may be the latter.
The whole affair seemed odd. First, Clark's office released to the media a letter she had written to Alberta Premier Alison Redford, suggesting they meet to talk about the Northern Gateway pipeline when Clark was in Calgary last week.
The trouble was, the letter was made public before Redford's office was even made aware of the invitation.
The meeting itself lasted just 15 minutes, and both leaders stuck to positions that pandered to their own provincial voters. Clark re-iterated her five "conditions" for backing the pipeline while Redford insisted Alberta was not giving up any oil sand royalties.
Both women described the meeting as "frosty" and it was apparent it was also a pointless get together, which struck no one as a surprise.
The whole episode came off looking like a pointless charade and political manoeuvre that went nowhere.
This misadventure just ended up looking like amateur hour, and while there will be some who insist the premier did the right thing by reminding Redford that the pipeline was not going to be built unless she did more to accommodate B.C.'s concerns, I suspect they will be in the minority.
Clark first clashed with Redford on this issue a few months ago, and I thought at that time it might translate into a boost in support for her among the voters.
But a series of polls since then showed that didn't happen, so there's not much reason to think the response to the latest offensive against Alberta will be much different.
There was the usual gnashing of teeth that greeted the news that B.C. Ferries will increase fares by 12 per cent over the next three years. Dire warnings that the ferry system has hit the "tipping point" may well be true, and hopefully it results in a real debate on what to do with a system that carries millions of passengers a year.
But I bet most ferry riders don't have a clue how to fix the problem. There are some basic issues here, the most notable of which are rising fuel costs and the cost that comes with replacing an aging fleet.
Throw in the fact that many ferry routes lose money and that taxpayers have to increasingly cover the shortfall and it is clear there's no easy answer.
But I remind people that already, B.C. taxpayers are forking over close to $200 million a year to B.C. Ferries as a subsidy.
Put another way, it means we will be paying B.C. Ferries $2 billion over the next 10 years, and fares will still increase and routes will continue to lose money.
To illustrate the magnitude of the problem, a 25 per cent reduction in fares would require a $120 million increase in the annual subsidy (unless fuel costs dramatically decline, an unlikely scenario).
The NDP says if it will form government it will simply launch a "review" of B.C. Ferries to figure out what to do.
That will merely put off the day of reckoning, because there are only three options on the table: reduce sailings, raise fares, or increase the taxpayer subsidy, or do a combination of two or three.
Everything else is mere window dressing. The NDP government in the 1990s ran aground with the ill-fated fast ferry scheme, and I suspect the New Democrats will find if they gain power next spring that the ferry system remains a political hot potato that is liable to burn them once again.
Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global BC.
