A loyal reader with New Democrat leanings called the other day to ask if I would ever cut the Notley government some slack. For instance, “will you admit they’ve done a good job in handling the wildfire?”

Yes I will. In a year or two.

I’m taking nothing away from Premier Rachel Notley and her government over their handling of the Fort McMurray inferno so far.

I’ll go even further. A week and a half out from the disaster, I’m prepared to acknowledge the NDP are doing a better job than the Redford Tories did during the 2013 floods in southern Alberta.

But as any honest politician will admit, while a crisis is in progress they aren’t the most critical people, first responders are.

Notley’s briefings have been excellent: concise, thorough and clear.

- Clickhere for more Fort McMurray wildfire coverage

More importantly, the premier has been frank. It would have been easy for her to avoid the question of when evacuees can return. Instead she admitted it will be a couple of weeks before there is even a plan for moving residents back.

Still, in times of crisis, it’s firefighters, police, emergency medical personnel, hospital staff, even municipal and utilities workers who are the true heroes.

Political leaders make critical decisions about, for instance, moving resources around or issuing mandatory evacuation orders.

Banning open fires and ATV use provincewide were political acts. And they were smart ones. With so many resources concentrated on fighting the Fort McMurray fire, the risk of new fires had to be minimized so first responders didn’t have to fight two or three or more big blazes.

In every instance in which a political decision has been needed, the NDP government has acted sensibly.

That’s tougher than it sounds. Making level-headed calls in a crisis isn’t easy or automatic.

But it wasn’t MLAs who beat back the flames that threatened Fort McMurray’s airport, or the provincial cabinet who stayed on at the hospital as flames approached until all wheelchair and bed-bound patients were safely away.

It was police who led the conveys of evacuees through the ravaged city and to safety in the south. Just as it will be utility workers and city employees who make the call to turn the power and gas back on.

The reason I said above that it will take a year or two to assess the NDP government’s handling of the crisis is that the work of political leaders begins now. Now that the immediate crisis appears to have passed, the NDP’s handling of the reconstruction will be their true test.

Nearly three years after the 2013 floods, for instance, I would give the former Tory government only a B-minus or C for its handling of the recovery. Nearly 36 months later, there are still hundreds of southern Alberta residents who haven’t received the full compensation they were promised.

Many victims of police door-smashing in High River, for instance, have yet to be paid for the damage done to their homes.

On Wednesday, Premier Notley, along with Red Cross Canada president Conrad Sauve, announced payments to evacuees of $1,250 per adult from the province and $600 per adult from Canadians’ generous donations.

This is an excellent first step handled quickly and efficiently.

But how the NDP’s response is remembered will depend on what they do from here on out; how they handle evacuees’ return, how they mitigate evacuees’ disputes with landlords and insurers, how they manage the rebuild without getting too bureaucratic.

It was a good sign that among Notley’s first post-fire meetings was one with oilsands executives about getting their plants up and running again. That shows she has her priorities straight.

Still, there is a long way to go yet.

lorne.gunter@sunmedia.ca

@SunLorneGunter