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Keith Gerein: Blake Desjarlais arrives at Edmonton city hall with plenty of partisan baggage, and an opportunity to shed it

For a mayor who has spoken aggressively against partisanship but has also faced criticism for perhaps relying on NDP circles a little too much to get elected, hiring a former NDP MP to be his right hand is not exactly ideal optics.

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In general, I am in favour of giving new hires a chance to do their job before declaring that they can’t.

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That should be a simple enough principle to accept, right? Yet it’s sometimes a struggle, especially in the world of politics, where reputations, past roles and partisanship often have new arrivals shown derision even before they’ve been shown their new office.

Yes, in my years covering political leaders and senior staff, I’ve seen plenty of instances in which stereotypes have proven disappointingly accurate. But just as often, and perhaps moreso, people have used the opportunity to rise above the sum of their critics.

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