First off, the Tyee is biased beyond belief; zero objective credibility. Secondly, the ubc report did NOT reveal the New Dinosaurs to perform better. In early 1990s, Harcourt had coat-tail success from the previous SoCred performance, but that faded fast.  UBC report: "The Liberals under Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark also outperformed the Clark, Miller and Dosanjh NDP governments."  Also, in BC's Lost Decade of the 90s, BC only looked better comparatively because prairie provinces were in economic decline. Campbell's Liberals in the 2000s measured against Alta & Sask whose economies soared. 

The NDP averaged deficits, the Liberals surpluses. Real income grew much faster under Liberals. Employment under the NDP came from high growth in the public sector. The ratio of net debt to GDP, rose dramatically under the NDP.

End result? In the 2001 election, most previous NDP supporters voted Liberal, only 2 NDP MLAs survived; the worst defeat of a provincial govt in Canadian history.