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New legislation will be minor compared with the early upheaval. The NDP hopes the public will gradually see policies such as the carbon tax as normal, just part of the landscape, by the time a campaign begins in early 2019.

The job at this point, they feel, is to ensure that the new laws work smoothly, with no unintended disasters like the huge power price spikes in Ontario.

“We’re almost to the halfway point in our administration,” Notley said in an interview during a cabinet retreat in Banff. “We know we’ve done a lot of good governance, but when you launch a bunch of ships, you have to sail them and you have to sail them well.

“At the same time, all of it needs to be focused very definitely on the No. 1 concern of Albertans no matter where they live — jobs and job security.”

This was the whole focus of the cabinet sessions (besides hearing trade briefings about the new wild card, Trump America.)

“I don’t have a crystal ball,” says government house leader Brian Mason, “but I think we’ve got the fundamentals right to support the economic recovery. And, as that happens, I think people will see the value of many of the things that we’ve done, things that they may have questioned up until now.

“And so, I believe we have every reason to expect that this government will be in a position in two years to win another election.”

The NDP has strengths that are often ignored. First, it’s rock-solid in support of Rachel Notley. There may be no leader in Canada who faces so little internal dissent from her caucus, cabinet or party. This is remarkable during a period of grinding recession and policy upheaval.