Reactions to Gordon Campbell’s resignation pour in
Posted November 3, 2010 3:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Premier Gordon Campbell’s resignation came as a surprise for many. News1130 caught up with many of the top pundits, industry leaders and politicians in the wake of today’s announcement.
BC NDP leader Carole James thanked Premier Campbell for his many years of public service, saying he made the right decision. She says she was surprised the announcement didn’t come after the referendum on HST.
James says it became clear the B.C. Liberals have broken trust with the people they were elected to serve, and the problems won’t go away with the new leader taking over Campbell’s seat. “The new leader stepping in will still have all of the questions waiting for them when they step in around the BC Rail corruption trial, questions on the HST, questions about kick-starting our economy, addressing climate change, all of those things that have been ignored because of the chaos that BC Liberals have been in.”
As to the NDP’s chances to get re-elected now that Campbell has resigned, James says her party still needs to make sure they give people something to vote for in the next election, not simply a government to vote against.
However, political blogger Sean Holman says the NDP might be looking for a new leader now, too. “There might be some increased pressure on Carole James to step aside. I think a lot of their planning has been around a match-up between Carole James and Gordon Campbell.”
Debra McPherson, the President of the BC Nurses’ Union, says she has a mixed reaction about Campbell’s resignation. “This is a Premier who has chosen tax cuts over health care, over decreasing child poverty… and for that of course, we have been among his toughest critics. With respect to the nurses, in his early part of his term when we were faced with a nursing shortage, we were able to work with members of government to make some improvements in terms of our recruitment and retention of nurses.”
University of Victoria Political Science Professor Dennis Pilon says, in the past, Campbell managed to reinvent himself to regain his popularity. “I did think that he is a realist. This is not a guy like Vander Zalm, who stayed till the end. He alienated everybody. Campbell, you know, he wants to believe that he is still popular. I think it got through to him that he is not going to be able to turn this around.”
Pilon believes party fundraisers might have leaned on Campbell to think about stepping down.
Meanwhile, former Social Credit Bill Bennett says the Premier worked hard and deserves more for all of the things he has done. “I know he wanted to go on longer, but sometimes that is not the best thing for him or anyone else. He needs a rest.”
