B.C. Premier David Eby took office with a 100-day plan. Here's how it's been going.

Before he was sworn in as B.C.'s premier, David Eby laid out an ambitious 100-day plan focusing on healthcare, housing, inflation, climate change and public safety.

Roughly 50 days into his tenure, it's clear measuring success will be complex, and some pundits wonder if whether he accomplishes everything on the list even matters at all.

At a press conference related to encouraging more nurses to practice in British Columbia Monday, Eby touted what he saw as his successes. He noted the $100 BC Hydro credit for residential ratepayers, a two-year freeze on car insurance rates, and reductions in childcare fees.

It's probably no surprise he focused on tangible issues like putting money into people's pockets since progress on many of the other issues is more difficult to measure.

Hamish Telford, an associate professor of political science at the University of the Fraser Valley was asked by CTV News about the flurry of announcements Eby has made since taking office.

"This is sort of what some political scientists referred to in the past as governing by lightning bolt, right?" he said.

"It's whatever bolt of electricity hits the government on any particular day or a week that focuses their attention," he added.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Late last year that lightning bolt was around repeat offenders and stranger attacks, with the BC Liberals repeatedly accusing the BC NDP of being soft on crime and overseeing a criminal justice system described as a "revolving door" for people with lengthy records.

Crown prosecutors have a new directive from the province to oppose bail for violent, prolific offenders. A spokesperson for the BC Prosecution Service says it's too early to determine any trends or assess its impact.

Dan McLaughlin sent CTV News a statement saying data on this has to be gathered manually, by examining each individual case. So far, the service has looked at the outcome of bail hearings by examining the five weeks before and the five weeks after that directive was issued – with a focus on the number of cases in which bail was opposed.

However he said the results were inconclusive.

"Due to the relatively small size of the sample, the anecdotal nature of the manual survey, and the fact that it covered the period leading up to the holidays, we have not yet been able to draw any clear conclusions about the impact of the policy revisions on the bail process," his emailed statement said.

"We intend to repeat this manual process of information gathering, perhaps a couple more times in 2023, and will be looking at the trends, if any, we can identify with the benefit of more information."

While Crown can ask that bail be denied, criminal lawyer Sarah Leamon notes that it is judges who ultimately make the decision.

"The judge needs to be considering whether or not a person can be released, and if so if they can be released on the least onerous of conditions, which is what the Supreme Court of Canada has said has to happen," Leamon explained.

Leamon added the decisions made by judges are bound by case law as well as legislation – and provincial policy would have no impact on that.

In addition to this direction to prosecutors, Eby also made several announcements related to funding the RCMP as well as investing in non-police interventions for responding to mental health calls.

HEALTH CARE

The latest lightning bolt is the strain on a health-care system plagued by staff shortages and burnout, where emergency room closures have become increasingly common.

Eby and Health Minister Adrian Dix have unveiled plans to attract and retain more medical professionals, announcing changes designed to make it easier for foreign-trained doctors and nurses to work in B.C. and an update to the funding model for family doctors.

As an example of the impact of these reforms, Eby said some of the 2,000 nurses in the application stage to have their foreign credentials recognized could be on the ground in 90 days.

Still, it comes as hospitals set up emergency operations centres expecting a surge in patients after a particularly busy fall.

Telford pointed out that over the holidays, many people had a hard time accessing health care due to long waits in emergency rooms, particularly for kids. He said repeated calls for more federal investment have fallen flat because most people seeking care don't care about how tax dollars are split between Ottawa and the provinces.

"They're going to want progress on other things as well -- notably housing, inflation, and so on and so forth – down the line, and if these things don't start to materially improving people's lives, then they will take it out on whoever they think is responsible, either Justin Trudeau and/or David Eby," added Telford.

HOUSING

On housing Eby's government has removed rental restrictions on strata units and announced new projects under development. However, the province remains under fire for the deplorable state of some single-room occupancy hotels. Some of thos ebuilding are owned by the province outright while others receive substantial funding.

"We need to have a plan for phasing out the SROs replacing them with dignified housing for people and that's exactly what we're doing," said Eby Monday.

He also pointed out the province is stepping in to develop a plan to address homelessness on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside that will address the persistent presence of encampments.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate activists say Eby also promised faster action to protect old growth, and 160 organizations have banded together to ask him to make good on that promise. Protests are already being planned to mark Eby's 100th day in office.

Jackie Larkin is with Elders for Ancient Trees and says the plan is to keep pushing the premier for action.

"We hope that he's actually committed to doing something and we know that the only way that this is going to be done is if the maximum pressure is kept up," she told CTV News.

Larkin added that while the NDP government has said it's committed to acting on recommendations to protect old growth, she doesn't believe Eby's predecessor John Horgan moved fast enough. She believes the forestry industry remains a powerful lobby but is hopeful pressure from the public will encourage Eby to act.

Telford said climate change doesn't seem to be a big priority right now, but a catastrophic weather event could shift that.

"On the other hand, activists both inside and outside the party are very keen on this and pushing it hard. So he may feel pressure from those quarters, particularly if that pressure comes from inside the party to do more," added Telford.

OTHER CHALLENGES

Telford also said Eby faces a challenge unrelated to whether he keeps his political promises.

""I'm still not sure though, that the population at large has noticed that we've had a change from John Horgan to David Eby I think there's still work for him to do to get better known in the public," Telford said.

Eby became premier after the immensely popular Horgan decided to step down, saying battling throat cancer depleted his energy. Telford says it's too soon to tell if Eby will enjoy the same level of support from voters as his predecessor.