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It’s almost comforting to return to the bizarreness and ineptitude to which we had all become so accustomed.

The protest was not entirely in vain, however. The gathering did offer a show of anti-leftist strength; only one sign equating the NDP to Nazis with crude drawings of swastikas could be seen.

The NDP might have been able to count the moment a success, had they not then proceeded to make a hash out of every single possible thing.

On March 9, The Globe and Mail broke the news the government had hired AUPE negotiator Kevin Davediuk to, uh, switch sides and help them negotiate with AUPE among other public-sector unions.

Davediuk is no kindly or measured adviser. He’s developed a reputation for heavy handed tactics common among seasoned union negotiators. Most notoriously, he was involved in a 2014 picket in which an air raid siren was used in the morning outside a housing co-operative for people with physical disabilities. Charming.

Given the state of the province’s finances — it’s expected to run a deficit almost 20 per cent as large as its total spending — this traditionally labour-friendly party is likely to face a particularly nasty round of negotiations.

It may be true that hiring Davediuk is a coup, as the NDP has claimed. He may know the finer details of his now-adversaries’ strategies. But it sure doesn’t look good.

Alberta has some of the highest-paid public-sector workers in the country —a consequence of keeping up with its juiced economy. Now that very economy is sputtering, and the NDP has openly refused calls to cut even as the private sector bleeds. For the sake of his political comrades, Davediuk had better hope he can actually negotiate a competitive deal; there must be no Alberta luxury package in this round.