SOME NDP MEMBERS STRUGGLING WITH QUESTIONS ON DAY THREE, AS WELL

Darrell Dexter has improved in his ability to answer questions put forth by the opposition. Considering how poorly things went Tuesday, that's not saying much.

Attempts to ask questions on the budget just tabled by Finance Minister Graham Steele were shut down by the Speaker of the House. The debate later will resolve those issues. In the meantime, Liberal MLA Manning MacDonald continued to attack the Minister of Community Services, Denise Peterson-Rafuse. Today, Andrew Younger joined in the fun. If Minister Peterson-Rafuse runs her office as badly as she speaks when in the legislature, I fear for the Department of Community Services.

Before Question Period began, both Becky Kent and Maureen MacDonald introduced guests in the east gallery; the side facing the government. To much applause from MLAs, the Minister of Health's introductee was Jeremy Akerman, a former leader of the New Democrats in Nova Scotia. On the other hand, when Becky Kent drew the attention of the house to Joan Jessome, head of the NSGEU; a union supportive of the NDP in the past, cheers appeared to come only from the government side of the House. Laughter erupted from some sections.

Although it's possible, to the best of my knowledge no questions have yet been directed to Percy Paris, the Minister of Economic Development, Ramona Jennex (SNSMR), or Ross Landry (Justice). Either I'm sorely mistaken or the opposition parties care little about crime, renewing economic vigour, or the flippin' three hour wait to renew your license at Access Nova Scotia.

GRADING THE NOVA SCOTIA NDP AFTER THEIR FIRST QUESTION PERIOD

Generally, on the first day - or any day - of a session of the legislative assembly in Nova Scotia, PH1819 attends; sits in the gallery; and reports back to you, the votah. Today, we'll change things around a bit in honour of the New Democratic Party's first time evah answering questions on the government side of the House. They fill it well, even with Charlie Parker sitting in the Speaker's chair. Meanwhile, "across the way" as Judy Streatch used to say, the official opposition and the deposed government of... well, Karen Casey has a lot of visible carpet.

For this change, then, PH1819 is simply grading NDP members on a pass/fail basis. Okay, it's not that simple. They'll be graded; and grades will be briefly explained. However, the multitude of members who didn't (or couldn't) make their presence known will go un-graded.

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Premier Darrell Dexter: D

D is for Dexter, yes. D is also for disastrous, doubtfully capable, and dilapidated speech. The Premier's a semi-cool guy with a great job and a sterling reputation as a relative moderate. When answering questions for the first time, the Premier looked and acted like a 5th-grader who had been home-schooled the first five grades. In truth, Darrell Dexter has spent lots of time in the House and should have been limited to mistakes like calling the Speaker Mr. Premier. Instead, he hummed and hawed and shuffled his papers and giggled at the gallery when he felt like he'd done half decent. Besides, he was more evasive than Rodney MacDonald could've been acting in Harrison Ford's stead in The Fugitive.

Marilyn More: B+

The Minister of Labour & Workforce Development is innately respectful, answers honestly, and does so with the kind of decorum we'd appreciate from all members.

John MacDonell: B+

Other than a snarky one worded answer directed at Liberal MLA Wayne Gaudet, the Minister of Agriculture spoke intelligently while dealing with the matter at hand.

Graham Steele: A

Though he, as the Minister of Finance, and his Premier have been caught in the whole offshore royalty definiton blame game, Graham Steele still comes off as one of the top three most intelligent members in the legislature and gives credit when credit is due. A breath of fresh air.

Sterling Belliveau: B

Never about to stir your soul with his public speaking ability, the Minister of the Environment still managed to take questions seriously and didn't deflect.

Maureen MacDonald: B-

The Minister of Health seems like a really nice lady. That won't cut it as Minister of Health, but her exchange with members opposite revealed her to be a woman on a mission and keen to solve problems. As far as speaking a little faster.....

Bill Estabrooks: A-

In good humour and on his best behaviour, the Minister of Transportation & Infrastructure Renewal was both a quality answerer and a good deliverer.

Denise Peterson-Rafuse: F

Although I pity her for the look on her face after she sat down having finished answering Liberal MLA Manning MacDonald's final supplementary, the Minister of Community Services wasn't prepared and needs practice. I realize these people aren't being paid to entertain those of us in the gallery, but her meandering answers were paired with a clear intention to avoid answering and the kind of public speaking ability fit for a hermit. On the other hand, Manning MacDonald went after her like a Bush hit McCain in South Carolina. Bringing up the subject of her resignation and his opinion on the right person for the job (Trevor Zinck, although he accidentally mentioned Dartmouth East's MLA, a Liberal, to raucous laughter at first) was probably a bit unfair and harsh on Peterson-Rafuse's first day. Ah, but them's the breaks and 'dis is 'da bizness. Suck it up and do better tomorrow.

Lenore Zann: B+

She sat silently - naturally - but looked like the only MLA who'd ever shopped on Rodeo Drive. A dash of class and panache, she doth bring. She can still up her game, however.

Jim Morton: F

As a newcomer and backbencher, this rookie NDPer better start putting his laptop away when the instruction is given. Pam Birsdall did so reluctantly. Vicki Conrad did so immediatey. Morton, however, acted like he was going to.... but didn't. This is the freakin' Nova Scotia House of Assembly. Serious business is done here. When the Speaker says put it away; put it away. The time might come when you're a Minister, and your lack of previous focus will show. Google can't help you with the answer and CNN.com won't be a good enough excuse. If Morton was reading ProvinceHouse1819, ignore this section of the post.

QUESTION PERIOD RESUMES THURSDAY IN NOVA SCOTIA

Wouldn't it have been fun to see former Premier Rodney MacDonald stand up and ask Premier Dexter a question on Thursday? Not from a cruel perspective speak I thus; but as a person who finds everything interesting and most things ironic.

Instead, Mr. MacDonald says he's done. He has never sat in the House on the opposition side.

If congeniality is set aside for the first day of the first real session in our NDP government's history, subjects that could and should arise in Question Period on Thursday include, but are not limited to: the balanced-budget-for-next-year promise that the current Premier made while campaigning which Graham Steele is backing away from already; ER closures which are still occuring under the NDP's watch; the Premier's close affiliations with unions; why Denise Peterson-Rafuse doesn't want to act quickly on abuse of the mentally disabled; and of course, hypocrisy.

One would hope for continued entertainment at Province House in addition to a renewed sense of cooperation. Are the days of acting like schoolchildren over? It's doubtful. But it'd be nice if each MLA waited their turn..... and then entertained those of us in the gallery.

TOP 5 NDP STEREOTYPICAL IDEAS THAT WON'T HAPPEN UNDER DARRELL DEXTER

On a rainy Monday morning just a handful of days away from Canada Day, the minds of Nova Scotians are still fixed on their province and the new government that has taken charge. The New Democratic Party of Nova Scotia, lead by Premier Darrell Dexter, is not at all what we traditionally believe the NDP to be. Think about Darrell Dexter's self-description: "I'm a conservative progressive", he said. Doesn't that sound an awful lot like the party that just lost their hold on power, the Progressive Conservatives?

Rather than comment on some more of the strange cabinet choices (or the obvious ones), PH1819 figured it was time to head for the hills of governing. If the NDP is so un-NDP in Nova Scotia, what typical NDPesque moves won't be taken with Darrell Dexter as Premier? Designating political ideas as New Democratic is a difficult task given their historic lack of power in this country; but PH1819 is going to make a go of it anyway. Here are five you might think the NDP would have done.... which they won't.

#5 - MAKE NS POWER A CROWN CORPORATION: Tory Premier Don Cameron sold NSP to Emera way back in 1992. It was big enough news for me, as a child, to take notice. The province needed coin in the coffers, so off NSP went. That NS Power transaction became the largest private equity switcheroo in Canadian history. The NDP's "socialist" views would lead you to believe that Dexter could be interested in controlling that which has angered so many Nova Scotians. Yet as Dan Leger pointed out today, true leadership would force Dexter to acknowledge that high power rates are good for the environment.

#4 - RAISE TAXES IN YEAR ONE: We equate the NDP with programs and absolute social welfare. As the opposition, however, this NDP group complained endlessly about Rodney MacDonald's ability to raise taxes and then call them fees. Taxes, of course, help pay for all the programs the NDP loves. Still, don't count on Darrell Dexter raising taxes just yet.

#3 - GIVE THE BOOT TO BUSINESS: Some Nova Scotia mainstays, like property provider Homburg, have said they're not interested in hanging around if the NDP acts like the NDP. With nearly half the popular vote in the province, the radical portion of the NDP party likely didn't represent a very significant portion of the NDP's own vote given that some would've headed the Green Party's way, too. While you'd assume that the NDP would want to encourage their "base" by going all anti-corporate, the NDP would first have to figure out who their Nova Scotian base really is.

#2 - KEEP ALL ER's OPEN 24/7: This isn't just a prototypical NDP stance; it's also a campaign pseudo-promise. Premier Dexter hedged more and more as time wore on. As the party that presented the country with nationalized healthcare (thank-you), we expect them to take emergency rooms seriously. Though this is a risky prediction, I'll still put it on the table. If the NDP manages to keep all ER's open 24 hours a day every day of the week, good for them. Just don't expect to find a staff inside waiting to treat you.

#1 - HOLD A BUNCH OF JACK LAYTON EVENTS: Shouldn't the NDP's federal leader be seen hanging around with the country's newly minted NDP Premier? Well, from Layton's perspective: Of course. On the other hand, Darrell Dexter is a little bit beyond fourth party status. Catch my drift? After winning the Stanley Cup, Sidney Crosby isn't going to lace up with the AAA midget Dartmouth Subways, right? I don't suppose Darrell Dexter is going to be embarrassed to hang around with Jack Layton. But our Premier's a winner. He has bigger fish to fry. Frying big fish doesn't allow time for arranging massive public events for a man we don't identify with winning.

RODNEY MACDONALD OUT AS LEADER - KAREN CASEY TAKES OVER FOR THE INTERIM

One would assume that, with the introduction of Karen Casey as the interim leader of the Progressive Conservatives in Nova Scotia, the former Minister of Health and Education has not set her heart on the full-time job at the head of the PC party. Typically an interim leader is meant to be an unbiased overseer even as the real fight for leader goes on behind his (or her) back.

Where did Karen Casey come from? Obviously this development heralds back to the election held earlier this month. Rodney MacDonald's PC party finished dead last after losing numerous seats, some held by prominent and talented cabinet members. Although he managed to display a strong poker face on election night, it seemed all but indisputable that Premier MacDonald would relinquish his title as leader of the party and become an everyday MLA. An everyday MLA, that is, who happened to be Premier for a few years.

Casey, a former educator from the hub of Nova Scotia area, has been an MLA since '06. Her attempts to answer in Question Period were rarely reviewed favourably here on ProvinceHouse. In the near term, she'll be one of the most prominent PC members in a very small PC caucus that will be, for all intents and purposes, the secondary opposition in the legislature. Don't be surprised if she fares better on the other side of the House.

As for the boy king who indirectly engineered Karen Casey's rise to the top of a temporary mountain, we've got to be honest: time was Rodney MacDonald's worst enemy. His party had held sway in this province for a decade come election time. In troublesome times, it's difficult for an excellent government to regain power. Sure, Rodney MacDonald was not an excellent or particularly memorable Premier. But he wasn't "Rob-me MacDonald" as discontents like to call him. He wasn't a bad communicator; he wasn't inefficient; and he was most definitely a hard worker.

Did he screw up? Of course - every administration does. Early on in one's tenure mistakes are relatively acceptable. The screw-ups which really hurt are the ones that come when you've held power so long. People were already bored with the PCs in 2006. Many of Rodney MacDonald's decisions, even the good ones, managed to inflict ridicule simply because of the duration of his government's hold. Believe this to be a ridiculous theory? Give me one other reason why a country in phenomenally better condition in 2000 than in 1992 (the USofA) would elect (illegally) an inept governor (Bush) over an intelligent VP (Gore) from the successful administration? Time breeds boredom. The grass is always greener, they say. Well, "they" are wrong.

One lingering question remains in regards to this new interim PC leader. What happened to Richard Hurlburt? The grumpy old Yarmouth MLA was lobbying hard for the interim job, strange as that may sound. Did he decide that a run for full-time party leader was more attractive? Or did his fellow Torys grasp the gravity of the situation?

Richard Hurlburt? PC party leader? "Come to your senses", their collective conscience shouted. And to their senses they came.... part-way, at least. PH1819 is surely one of many who understood the stabilization Angus MacIsaac would have provided.

As for the new Premier, he's now thankful for Rodney MacDonald's work and commitment. Said he: "I want to personally thank Mr. MacDonald for his work on behalf of Nova Scotians." Really? For Darrell Dexter, this has to be a feeling identical to that of Barack Obama when he was forced to endlessly repeat a line about being "grateful for John McCain's service to this great nation" just before hammering him on policy. Silliness, I say. Silliness.