Yes it's time....but they better pick someone leaning conservative and bring some common sense back. Repeal the carbon tax and I would be very happy. The HST thingy didn't resonate with me as much as the dang carbon tax. That pisses me off. As it is right now, all the choices to vote for are godawful.

Just. Not. Carol. James. For the love of God! NO!

I agree, it's too bad the HST has to be the public issue to bring down this leader, and not the much more ill-advised carbon tax policies and the misguided belief that the B.C. government could change the weather by raising taxes.

Campbell was always a big-time control freak, but controlling the weather? C'mon, give your head a shake, dude.

This could be a good thing for the provincial conservative party, especially if the Libs go to their left-wing for new leadership. That would leave a big vacuum on the political right which was already becoming apparent in recent years.

If the BC Liberals swing to the right, we might get a break on the gasoline taxes. Then the NDP will be cast in the role of chief carbon taxers, which might help push them out of the lead in public opinion where they have been for the past year.

I'm going to leave the analysis to the commentors on this one. It takes days for the mules to carry news over the mountains, so I don't know very much about politics in BC other than to assume they're all various shades of orange - some of them in jumpsuits.

Kate, WestJet is flying to Abbotsford now.

Soccermom, I feel sorry for you, Peter and for our son and his family who live in the left coast. Hopefully a real non progressive conservative party gets some legs there soon.

BTW, please get someone to triple lane the #1 highway from Chilliwack to Vancouver.

Take note McGuinty

A selfless decision, one that allows the BC Liberal party a chance to re-brand with a new leader well in advance of the next election, scheduled for 2013. He obviously recognized his continued leadership was going to kill the party in the next election.

(Note to non-B.C. residents, the B.C. Liberal party is a centre-right coalition party. It has no affiliation with the federal party of the same name).

Any thoughts on the new BC Conservative Party? I received an email from them this week with a list of principles...looked alright.

Never mind triple laning from Chilliwack to Vancouver lets get the Trans Canada triple laned from Vancouver to Calgary and from Calgary to Halifax.

Pongo, my thoughts:

BC Conservative party = NDP election victory.

It would be 1996 redux, when BC Liberals and BC Reform split the right, and the NDP won the legislature despite having lower popular support than the BC Libs.

Don't get me wrong, I wish B.C. had a bona fide conservative party provincially, but I do not want to see a repeat of 1996.

Pongo, my feelings on the BC Conservative party is that, unless they get a high-profile leader (someone who is well-known and respected)pronto, and get some press they aren't going anywhere....in fact, right now, the Greens way outpoll the BC Conservatives, yikes.

and Kate, yes, you are correct about the jumpsuits, hahaha, only I think some are orange AND green and come with lovely tinfoil helmets...LOL

I'd love to see a good leader for the B.C. Conservatives, but to date there's no sign of one. The problem the Liberals have is that they said, prior to the election, that the HST was not on their radar; and then brought it in right after the election. In other words, a blatant lie. Taxes are somewhat inevitable, but I'd have felt better if they hadn't lied.

I'll drink to that!

I wonder, what plum job position has dear Gordo been promised after his political career? Nothing less that $400K I'll wager. What a list of "accomplishments" he has on his CV now.

Good riddance of the chief moonbat in BC.

The BC Lieberals do have links with the federal lieberals and in some ridings they share offices (info from a former patient who used to work for the lieberal party).

The only solution to BC's problems is for the section of the province from Abbotsford east to split away and join up with Alberta. Let the coastal moonbats carbon tax themselves into the primitive existence they desire.

I refuse to vote for a lieberal politician and where I live the Conservative party polled quite respectable numbers. If the NDP gets in, well there's also a shortage of doctors in Alberta.

When the right get a great, well spoken, articulate and passionate small "c" conservative, they will sweep the dust and garbage out of the left coast.

We are ripe and ready for a move to the right!

Gordo has a plumb job waiting for him at the international level, I see UN type postings in his future. He was at the latest Bilderberger meeting, his ability to ram through the HST without a shot being fired has proven his political worth, he has done his duty and the powers that be have given him the nod.

Lets see what happens!!!

I certainly was not happy about the carbon tax! But the HST thing was waaaay overblown.

That said, over all he's been a pretty good premier, and definitely got this province back on track after the NDP kicked the everlovin' hell out of the place...God forbid they ever get another chance!!!

I'm hoping, with the right leader to take his place, hopefully someone with "conservative" leanings, they can get it together again and put to rest the possibility of the NDP winning power. Those clowns get in power, we're right back to square one again. Makes me cringe just thinking about it...

*
"colin announces... A selfless decision"

and, all too evidently... at a 9% approval rating...
one that could have been made months ago by
a brain-dead dung beetle.

*

I view the BC Liberals as the United Fascist Party, heirs of Mussolini, Wacky Bennett, vander Zalm and Trudeau, with all the disadvantages of capitalism, communism and fascism and none of the advantages. Removing one moonbat loon won't change anything, it'll be the same old extravagant nanny state.

I have lived in BC since 1971 and I can tell you that BC has enjoyed prosperity when other regions in Canada were languishing. It is to the credit of Gordon Campbell and the Liberal coalition he held together for nine years that we have enjoyed such prosperity. The implementation of the HST was and is a good thing for the businesses of the province and all people. This government from it's inception in 2001 has done exactly what it was mandated to do. In the last two years, there have been problems and there have been decisions I have disagreed with. Carbon Tax. -for one. ( though even THAT was tied to a reduction in income tax) The HST represented a decrease in taxes because the provincial tax was eliminated at all multiple levels of implementation in manufacturing , but the people of the province did not see that nor did Vander Zalm allow them to see what good this would do for the province. Mr. Vander Zalm has a vendetta and he implemented it to his eternal shame. Mr. Campbell has been an excellent premier. He was an excellent steward of the province and the city of Vancouver before that. And this is the thanks he gets. I hear there were 17 in his caucus champing at the bit for him to go. Maybe so, but it will allow the NDP an opening they do not need. They stand at 42% in the polls. A testament to the damage Vander Zalm has done and how the NDP has been able to ride in on the coat tails of that duplicity. Since there will be no election until 2013 I had hoped Campbell would stay on. We do not often enjoy a center right political stewardship in any province for so long.
Of course, not everything Campbell did was popular with all of us, and I had my issues with some of the decisions made. However, we have to take into account the entire picture and that picture was of economic health and prosperity for 9 years. Not many parties can claim that victory and it is due in the main to Gordon Campbell's leadership. The NDP, no matter who heads it cannot get it's hands on this province, for we have seen before what they do when they are in power. The media, as always, has played a part in this event and they deserve a good slap up the side of the head collectively for that participation. I am disappointed that Gordon felt he had to step aside. From his colleagues speaking on CKNW this afternoon, they were all full of high praise and let us all know that Gordon Campbell has never done anything but put the Province of British Columbia ahead of everything. And it has showed in the policies and the economic health of the province.
And now?- The libs better get their act together and join up with those who are playing around with a conservative party out here because if they do not solidify behind 'a common sense conservative' we are going to go the way of California with a Jerry Brown in Victoria toking up and playing it cool while the province goes straight down the tubes and all of us along with it.

I wish we were like Alberta in the sence that we would just throw the whole lot out for a new right of center party. Economically Campbell has been good but i could never trust completly anybody who worships at the global warming alter. I work with a lot of stupid people that would, like californian's vote for some left wing economic illiterates!

Can't argue with much of what SB just said. I've lived here most of my 56 years, and I can remember well how the NDP savaged this province every chance they got, starting with that bozo Dave Barrett!

The very best premier this province, indeed this whole damn country, ever saw was WAC Bennett! And if they ever figure out a way to clone him, I'd vote for him in a heartbeat!!!

In any event, kind of a sad ending for Campbell, who took over one God forsaken mess left behind by the NDP, and straightened it all out in pretty short order. Even the Fraser Institute ranked him first among all premiers in Canada for steering this province through the last couple years of economic chaos.

There's a government in BeeCee? I thought it was, y'know, an anarcho-capitalistic syndicate of ex-hippies?

i first met Gordoo back in 1968......haven't seen him in 40 years but even if he was a child molester and a charter member of NAMBLA he'd still get my vote....over the opposition....

over there...over in the opposition ranks are some rank primo dipshits...

sometimes you gotta hold your nose to keep moving incrementally for'ard.

First, the NDP showed us already in spades that they will never be trusted to govern, and not sink the province again.

But, that said, the catering to a carbon tax and then the HST, when they said they would not, has a lot of us losing all respect for this bunch.

The connections to the Federal Libs are still in evidence. No doubt Christy Clark, now on a radio talk show host, but formerly a Deputy Premier under Campbell, would look at embellishing her goals with taking a run at it.

Her connections to the Federal Liberals through her husband cannot be taken lightly. They are all in the same stewpot, as far as we are concerned.

Any ties to Campbell's cabinet, with the BC Rail story, still leave a bad taste in many voters' mouths.

The worst problem for voters is that the other pickles in the political jar are muddling their way through organizing, and there does seem to be in-fighting, which is never a good sign.

Yes, the province has not tanked, but some sectors have been hit, and are looking to have their government stay far away from the ridiculous prospect of man being able to change climates.

Another thing on the HST....for those in the service business, the hit was not without serious consequences to the bottom line. The only way to cover those additonal employee costs was to increase cost to the consumer. And we are the ones on the front line taking that grumbling, once again.

Who is there in the cabinet waiting to take over from Campbell? Just do not see that person yet that speaks to us.

UGH!

Maybe Campbell's brother, Michael, would consider it. And I doubt he would. But, we would have a chance to keep the province sound if he did.

I think no matter who gets chosen as a new leader the next election goes to the NDP unfortunately, and if nothing else that makes me very glad that I moved away last year ( but I feel sorry for those will have to put up with another disaster for the province).

You can try remind people about the carnage left by Harcourt, Clark and Dosangh but too many have short memories.

Oh, I thought you were throwing Brad protectionism Wall under the bus for a sec there. ;)

"The connections to the Federal Libs are still in evidence."

Think about it, who would call themselves a Liberal in Western Canada who was not one?
Alberta Liberals were trying to claim they had no connection to the LPC last election too and will, no doubt, again.

Why cling to a brand that is despised?

Although I do not always agree with Campbell, like George Bush and Stephen Harper, his heart is in the right place and we will come to miss his competence. He deserves much credit for fiscally turning BC from a have not province with people and businesses leaving in droves. He also united the center-right coalition keeping the socialist hoards away from power. I hope whoever replaces him has the same success.

Note to all BC conservatives. Now is your chance. Join the BC Liberal party and vote for your candidates. As the Tea Party has shown its much easier to take over an existing party than to start one from scratch. If Campbell's replacement is some squishy centrist like Christy Clarke you have no one to blame but yourselves.

http://www.bcliberals.com

Campbell is about as good as it gets in politics.
I see Harper in a similar light, notwithstanding my many frustrations as discussed here in great detail.

He has always had the Mulroney problem: the general public's visceral dislike of the man.

I will never forget that extremely bold move, dropping personal income taxes about a quarter the day after he was sworn in.

His wife is reported to have said, "he likes governing but hates politics". That's true I think. He was a good manager, a good administrator. And he was a good mayor.

True the carbon-tax thingee is a mystery, but NO, "moonbat" is not an apt label for the man.

Credit where credit is due. The province flourished under Campbell.

Gordon Campbell had a much better first half than second half, he tended to stray from what worked well once he got things going in the right direction, and some of his later political moves were either badly planned or ill-advised. So he really has nobody to blame for his demise, it was a self-inflicted wound breaking the only firm rule of politics, don't tax when you just finished saying you wouldn't tax. Even in BeeCee people notice stuff like that. The ferries may be bouncing off the sides of islands, the bridges may be like amusement park rides, and the squeegee kids may be running crown corporations, and that's all okay, but if you tax without asking, then the ghost of Vanderzalm will rise from the netherworld (or the netherlands) to exact a terrible revenge (plus 12% of course).

Who knows with Gordon Campbell, he may be first to announce a leadership bid now, and people might actually be relieved.

Thx Colin and Soccermom, I'm going to have to read up on some political history out here...

glacierman at 4:46 PM: "a great, well spoken, articulate and passionate small "c" conservative"
===================
Speaking of which, I'm listening to the one we have in Saskatchewan right now. Tony Clement just declared the BPH deal for Potash Corp. dead, and Wall is responding with praise and gratitude.

Brad Wall for PM, but not just now. We want to keep him for a while longer.

*BHP*

Living on the "Left Coast" this certainly affects me. I would hate to see the NDP get anywhere near the treasury ever again. Campbell, unfortunately swung further and further towards leftist idiocy with each election. I joined the BC Liberals to ensure a right-wing candidate got in in my riding and I resigned in protest over the carbon tax. The way I see it, the only way the BC Liberals can survive now is (a) Replace Campbell with a solidly right of centre (ie., Fiscally responsible) individual; (b) Replace the finance minister who is now tainted; (c) drop the HST ro ten percent as soon as legally possible and (d) kill the hated carbon tax.

Heaven forbid Carol James ever gets near the premier'e seat.

Soccermom: "orange AND green and come with lovely tinfoil helmets"

Yuck. No fashion sense, either.

Posted by: neo at November 3, 2010 5:02 PM

Any particular reason for the unsolicited insult, neo?

Snowbunnie at 5:24 has got it exactly right!

loki, and others. I stand by my comments -- there is no affiliation between the BC Liberals and the federal Liberals. Party affiliation was formally, and officially severed in 1987 by Gordon Wilson, when he assumed control of the BC Liberals.

Of course, there are "links" between the two parties. Some BC Liberals are also closely involved with the federal Liberals and are members of same. Conversely, however, the same can be said of the federal Tories. As I stated, the BC Liberals are a coalition party -- after the collapse of Social Credit in the early 90s, the centre-right coalesced under the BC Liberal banner.

And so it's come to this. So long, Gordo.

For all those living in BC, please visit www.conservativesbc.com and consider getting joining or getting involved. Open nominations and allowing individual MLAs to represent their constituents as opposed to whipped votes are but two of the policies in their book, available at that site.

They are the only true conservative party in BC and, (full disclosure) I've been involved for some time in helping guide them to this point. I've been in BC for 15 years or so, off and on, and will be able to finally vote for a conservative in 2013.

If anyone would like to get in touch with me, click on my name (I think that pops up e-mail) and we can discuss this without taking up space and bandwidth on Kate's server or abusing her comments section.

For those outside of BC, the BC Conservative Party is akin to the Wildrose Alliance in AB, the Sask Party in SK, etc.

Can BC please, pretty please elect a REAL human being or a close facsimile. You have the richest Province in the Dominion along with the biggest crazies in Canada.
Just hold back the inclination to vote the Hippie vote dance.
IS there anyone in BC who is sane enough to run the Province into prosperity. I mean considering B C's wealth. It takes a lot of work to stay poor.
Just look at Saskatchewan. They got rid of their hippies & now they have money. It will be the same in Alberta once Eddy has been bounced.
Vote someone from the interior. Vancouver isn't even a Canadian city anymore.
JMO

i dunno why TROC consider us BCers such flakes...

i'm not...i'll grant you we have a good number of weirdos but certainly NOTHING like Ontario...

nor do we have a culture of defeat like the Maritmes....nor have we been in thrall for decades to the Socialists as in Sask....

we's jus' folks....and compared to the puzzle factory in TROC we're level headed for the most part.

like not everywhere can be like Alta.

so back off before you get me pissed.

Me No Dhimmi

True the carbon-tax thingee is a mystery,

He did it for IGGY. So that he could point to one Province, who believes as he does.
Gordon Campbell became the Liberal Goat for federalism. Those liberal ties you talked about.
We all know what happens then.
IGGY of course only cares about Ontario or Quebec.
BC is expendable.
JMO

I left BC for Alberta in around 2001. The Liberals were emerging as the "Anyone-but-the-NDP Party", and the choice of name and wishy-washiness of the local candidate let me know that yes, they were going to look at things the same way as the federal Liberals.

Vancouver might have done OK over the last 10 years but my hometown over 12 hours drive away (beyond Hope, for the lower mainland folks) has been decimated. There is something like 50% unemployment there and any young (ie under 50) folks have left for the cities or other (ie out of province) regions. Just remember that as the economies of the rural areas are gutted you'll lose the population and skill base that keep the place running. I'm in mining and the lack of certainty about who owns the land (is 105% of the province still claimed by Indian bands?) and how evenly the applicable laws will be applied mean that I'm not confident of my industry's survival there. BC is following the path of becoming the Vancouver area, and the park that they play in, and the outlying feudal regions. Keep electing the next-to-worst choice and you'll get there faster.

Snowbunnie at 5:24 has got it exactly right!
Posted by: RCGZ at November 3, 2010 6:45 PM

YES, s/he does. Exactly right, especially the line "and that's the thanks he gets." I do wish, however, that Snowbunnie would do some paragraphing!

AND, what gives with the snark about the probability of Campbell having some $400K job lined up. Wouldn't that low-end CEO pay be commensurate with his past experience?
That sounds like liberal-style envy to my ears!

Quibble: I just don't get the praise over the HST. I'm cynical enough to believe there's no such thing as a revenue-neutral tax. I favour Murray Rothbard's view: don't focus on the kind of tax but the general level of taxation. For this reason I find all debate about consumption vs. income tax to be a red herring.

Colin (from Mission),

Voting for the BCC does not equal a win for the NDP. I can't reveal on here why this is so, however we could exchange phone numbers via e-mail if you'd like an explanation.

Suffice it to say, on here, that extensive long-term polling says otherwise.

Aviator

Spot on, you are.

Who knows what aliens kidnapped Campbell and brainwashed him with the envirnutter point of view, from the pinko Carbon Tax, to the 'Great bear rainforest' (a fabrication of the Suzukster and his minions), the approaching Tariff plan for IPP (which has paid exorbitant rates in Ontario for power, and likely to happen here too), to the increased bureaucracy and regulatory authority that they railed against when they forst came to power.

I find it very hard to trust this coalition, it has swung far too hard to the left, leaving a huge vacuum to the right.

And agreed, a split vote results in the Horde taking over, running things from a dogmatic unionist perspective.

Heard her highness Carole James on the way home today, who was railing against, "....the high standard of living, the lowest minimum wage, and child poverty under the Liberals....." to which I thought, Is she stupid or insane? Raising minimum wage, and paying more welfare (and pay more taxes) only results in a more expensive standard of living......NDP economics for ya!

At least Gordo left nice and early, allowing 2 1/2 years of damage control and renewal to happen. They need to get back to their core values, the ones that they ruled by in their first term, which pissed off the unions constantly...life was good!

OT/ sorry
Steyn Election Results Live blogged right now.

http://strictlyright.com/2010/11/dean-steyn-thompson/

I am also in agreement with everything that Snowbunnie posted at 5:24 PM.

Since moving to B.C. from Manitoba 25 years ago, I've seen the good (Campbell), the bad (Clark), and the ugly (Harcourt).

The NDP were reduced to just 2 seats in the 2001 election after their utter destruction of the province in the 1990's. Unfortunately, that still wasn't enough to kill them off for good.

I favour the Tea Party idea of changing the B.C. Liberal Party from within to move it farther to the right. Any splitting of the right-of-centre vote is folly IMO.

Much as I like the man, I say good riddance.

From the ridiculous carbon tax, to the HST, and so on it went, Campbell lost his core base of supporters long ago.

Thank CHRIST! I was beginning to think this day would never come! Good riddens.

Many people have hated Campbell for a long time (wife's family, they don't know why though). The lefty press calls him hard to like, which only means they don't like him. Yes, he brought in a carbon tax, but did you know it was a direct tax on consumption, which had an offsetting tax reduction on income? The HST amalgamated two virtually identical sales taxes with two separate and expensive collection systems.

Campbell has been the steady hand at the tiller that this province sorely lacked for decades. He was recently rated the best fiscally prudent premier by the Fraser Institute.

Today is a sad day for BC. We are one day closer to the socialist hordes resuming control. Pray for us.

Campbell has done nothing but lie to the people of BC, ever since he got elected. BC Rail, "I will not sell BC Rail" in 2000, were his words. Not even a year later and it was sold, with alots of "unanswered" questions. After seven years, two people from Gordo's team admitted guilt to taking bribes, the day before big named people within Campbell's government were going to testify. Talk about fall guys, that cost us not only BC Rail , but 6 plus million dollars in legal fees. He ripped up contracts, with health care workers and destroyed the carehomes. The Olympics, we still do not know the true cost, it would take a completely new government to find out the truth. Then there is the HST BS he pulled. It has always been about Gordo, not the people of BC.

I don't think everybody gets a tax break on this carbon tax. We certainly don't get any rebate cheques...feels like wealth redistribution to me.

cut taxes, fine, but don't dress it up with something as ridiculous as a carbon tax. Makes no sense to tax on one hand and reduce tax on the other. all it creates is more bureaucracy and more wasted tax dollars, IMO

The HST never bothered me that much, I thought the uproar was a bit psycho. but that carbon tax...that one is very hard for me to go along with. all for that supposed "feel good green religion" when it does absolutely nothing.

You're right about the socialist hordes, though. everything that was wrong about Campbell's gov't will be magnified with the Dippers. If the new Liberal leader tacks "right", that may be their and our saving grace.

I'm glad to see Campbell go, never liked the guy. Campbell has always struck me as a bit of a creep. It's time for a new leader and a fresh start, before the next election. Carol James would be a disaster for this Province. Giving power to the likes of James and Adrian Dix gives me nightmares.

The only good thing that can happen to B.C. is they sink into the Pacific with California after the big quake.
Quick.What is B.C's biggest industry'after dope?And soccermom raised some little hippies.

Mary

Good that BCRail was sold, why should government be competing with private railways?

Sell it, take the money, and put it other better uses, and the union was gone too!

Now go back to rabble, you commie! Thank you for the NDP point of view, no matter how wrong it is!

Nice, justhinkin. Nice to know you care so much about our beautiful province.....and just so we're clear, THIS soccermom has not raised any little hippies, LOL Trust me on that one.

They should give him that giant wind turbine on Grouse Mountain as a going-away present.

Justthinkin.......or are you?

Born, raised and bred here.

Don't knock it, there ain't nothing like this place, politics aside.....why do you think there are so many Albertans here?

Campbell's retirement is not a matter of whether he was a good or bad leader (he was atrocious).... the issue is that there is no one to replace him .... no one who is not even worse.

Sorry for BCers who have to face this reality .... but it is what it is.

Can't believe the praise that some people are giving him.

Lets start with some truths that we already know:
-BC rail
-carbon tax
-HST
-breaking contracts

and then what we don't know:
-cost of the Winter Games
-cost of BC Stadium roof
-cost of the new hospital in Victoria

and that's just off the top of my head.

This guy is jumping ship for a reason and it isn't because he lied about the HST. When you give this resignation a second look you might not be surprised at what you find!!!

People don't care about BCRail, only the NDP and unions...period.

HST...criticism overblown, but.....if they didn't lie, they were naive in the introduction. Either outcome is poor politically.

Carbon Tax....bad

Breaking contracts....no problem with that. Those HEU gifts gave that union 2 years pay to members who worked 5 days a year...it was a horrible, corrupt NDP deal. Good on them for busting it for janitorial work...

Olympics? Loved them.....How many Olympic cities are there anyways?

The new hospital? Victoria is a regional center......

Are you left, right, or dumb as a bag of hammers?

What kind of center-right party would call themselves "Liberals" in a western province? Gordon Campbell is definitely a Liberal as well as a liberal. It was he who, as mayor of Vancouver, re-zoned a nice leafy suburban neighbourhood off Victoria Drive so that they could open an abortion clinic. By the way, as I understand it, Randy White of the old Reform Party is heading up the B.C. Conservatives and are dispensed by pundits as being unelectable as social extremists. Nonetheless, they will get my vote, because I certainly am not voting for anyone in this party and I certainly am not voting for the socialist NDP.

"Campbell's retirement is not a matter of whether he was a good or bad leader (he was atrocious).... the issue is that there is no one to replace him .... no one who is not even worse."

Exactly what I was thinking...I'll give the guy this, he's not completely incompetent.

"Note to non-B.C. residents, the B.C. Liberal party is a centre-right coalition" Colin
Well, that's true...

"Campbell is about as good as it gets in politics.
...The province flourished under Campbell."
Posted by: Me No Dhimmi
Great analysis MND, but...

"but even if he was a child molester and a charter member of NAMBLA..." john begley
BINGO

On economic matters Campbell was excellent, especially using Ralph Klein's "government should be boring" yardstick. On social matters, he was all too happy "to go along to get along" and in BC that means a remorseless slide to the point the two gay litigants are allowed to write a high school course curriculum. by themselves! (just my favorite outrage, there are others.)

I've been in B.C, since moving here from Manitoba in 1966. I couldn't believe the wealth in this Province compared to the Province I'd just left, my wage in the printing trade tripled in B.C.

I saw so many small towns in which there lived several millionaires,all made from hard work in logging,milling,and mining.

It was a capitalists dream,and we were governed by an old fashioned sensible politician ,W.A.C. Bennett,and there was nothing "wacky" about him.

Bennett opened the Province by building the infrastructure,then stepped out of the way and let private industry do it's work,and it did work!

The NDP years of the 90's was B.C.'s worst nightmare,and we in the building trades suffered big time! When Campbell took over the Liberals from Gordon Wilson, he was a breath of fresh air, and the good years returned.

Somewhere along the way,he forgot his mandate and turned Left,then Right,then Left again,and former supporters were simply bewildered. What the hell,we wondered, was he doing with the carbon tax,and subsidizing all those windmills in the North?

I think Campbell did the right thing in resigning today,as now the Liberals have three years to rebuild,find a credible leader,and it sure as hell ain't Christy Clark,and keep the NDP and Carole James at bay.

Bill Vander Zalm is a vindictive SOB,and I will always remember the former Liberal/ former Premier as the man who killed off the Social Credit Party that WAC Bennett worked so hard to build,and that oversaw the building of an economic powerhouse.

I don't like the HST either, but see VZ as the bitter old has been he is.

If Randy White is involved in the Provincial Conservative Party,count me IN. White was the best Justice Minister we never had, one of the real decent men in Canadian politics.

Me No Dhimmi, BC has NOT flourished under Campbell! He's almost finished OFF our forest industry and rural communities. What we fought against when Mike Harcourt et al were in power (NDP gov'ts) ie., Greenpeace and the other scruffy environmental organizations, is what we GOT with Gordon Campbell in power. The big green agenda and piddling community woodlots. The forest corporations merged, went about "right-sizing" their workforces and sold off private lands. Unions have gone global along with corporations. Small communities are just not the same anymore.

dmorris, I respect Randy White, too.

Quick note to Dan in BC: My mother always said when you have nothing nice to say about someone say nothing at all.
So.....here's nothing!

That's the best part about Kate's site, we are all allow to have an opinion! That was my personal opinion, so what was the point???????

One of the posters above suggested that Campbell's carbon tax was revenue neutral. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

---- and I forgot to mention the Tree Farm give-away!!!!

Oh well.
No more trolling for votes at Sikh parades which honour the terrorists who killed 331 people.

Mary

We know your failed unionist opinions, your dear leader, Value Village Carol tells us all the time, in her dowdy tone.

Mary, if you can't stand the heat........then just go away, adults are talking here! Go back to rabble and babble with the rest of the chattering class.

No one cares about BCRail except your unions.

Nobody!

I was born in BC, and aside from about 18 months, I have lived my entire 45 years in BC.

Gordon Campbell is one of the better Premiers we have had over the last 25+ years. You can go compare and contrast against Glen Clark, Teh Zalm and so on.

I have to give Mr. Campbell a lot of Thanks for a very stable government since 2001. There have been minimal cabinet shuffles and only One premier. Compare and contrast to the lost NDP decade of the 1990's!

That said ... I would love to see a provincial government here in BC like we saw in Campbell's first term. That was great!

I detest the Carbon Tax. (I don't need to get into WHY here and now).

The HST was a bad idea, regardless of the lousy introduction of it. I am a small business owner - and as such I should like it, right? But I am also an individual taxpayer. My gains on the business side from the HST are small compared to my personal losses from the HST as an individual.

Because of the HST, I think it is highly likely the NDP will be the next government of BC. That will be a very bad thing.

With luck, the NDP will be in for only ("ONLY"!!) one term. But that is exactly what I thought back in 1991 when Harcourt was elected. Little did I know then that he would be the "best of the worst" that the NDP would hurl at our fine province!!!

Ah, I better stop now. More wine please?

I have not read all the posts.

I lived in BC for 8 years under VanderZammo, Hurtford and after him the asshole Glen "the thug" Clark. (Clark has - last info - since done well for himself under the tutelage of the Emperor - Pattison).

BC is fantasy land when it comes to politics, Campbell had a better run than those above. Although I must say VanderZam was a great ambassador for the province - big smile, warm voice and his (in my mind) trademark comment - "Everything is wonderful". Made Bob Barker look like an amateur.

Come on down!!! "Everything is wonderful"

The thing is he might end up premier again!!!

That's BC!

The biggest problem with BC is its dispicable voter turnout...somewhere in the mid 30 percentile. I think Campbell keyed in on voter apathy and thought the public would just suck up the new HST.We need a movement like the tea party in the states to tell Government that we are not going to stand for any more pick pocketing of our hard earned dough...especially when it goes to supporting the lazy, unproductive demographic. The tax grabs are endless in this Province and I'm pretty much sick of it.

"That said ... I would love to see a provincial government here in BC like we saw in Campbell's first term. That was great!"

I couldn't agree more. Something happened to Campbell along the way - it's a real pity.

i think we can all agree that Campbell was a very good premier the first few years.....I think he changed once he had the DUI..he was never the same after that....soon after he jumped on the green bandwagon and it went downhill fast.

The dickhead can go f himself. I'm paying an extra 4.5 cents a litre for gas so he can feel better about himself.

We have to pay extra for electronics (at purchase time) for disposal - because of a contract they made to a company to dispose of them ... locking out companies that actually pay for scrap electronics.

About a month ago I bought 2 florescent tubes. Sticker was $6.98 ... I had to lay out $8.94 ... that's 28% more than the sticker price. The reason given? New fee that is not going to the gov't, but environmental groups ... $1.00 plus HST on that amount. Like kooks stealing my money for other kooks is supposed to make me feel good.

I don't think that the HST has ever been the problem - it's all about Gordo's religion. I'll remember him for the hydrogen highway.

What ever happened to Campbell, you say ??

That's simple - he got religion. Green religion.

He pinned his hopes on Obama's cap&trade thing. That all collapsed yesterday. Think it is a coincidence he resigned the next day?

cap and trade

BC has a problem. I wish you all best in whatever path you choose to keep the Bolsheviks hordes at bay.

In BC provincial politics it's always been an unsatisfactory choice between the commie hordes or someone else. Financially, I can't see that much difference between the NDP and Lieberals. The olympic deficit is larger than the cost of the fast ferry fiasco. I'd rather have Vanderzalm back than Campbell.

The HST was introduced without consultation and hits physicians particularly hard. Every other business can pass on their costs but doctors can't. My proposal to charge every walkin patient a $2 HST fee was rejected by other members of the clinic I work at so I'm looking at my options of either moving to Alberta or going to the US. Right now where I work is very short of GP's and the HST has ensured that things won't get any better.

The only direct democracy option people in BC have is the recall petition and I'll be supporting any efforts to recall the Lieberal MLA's in my home town. There's a lot of anger out there and working within an established political party isn't going to work given the way political parties are run in Canada.

Unfortunately BC seems to have the highest concentration of moonbats in the country although the vast majority of them live in Vancouver. Campbell has been catering to moonbats and I suspect that the damage to the electrical grid may be major in the future given the "green" power generation projects that I'm being forced to pay for on my utility bills.

BC is really 2 provinces with the people in the interior of BC being quite sane in contrast to the coastal inhabitants. Maybe what Vancouver needs is a few frigid winters to make people there see the light, although I'm sure a large number of Vancouver residents would blame the cold on global warming.

I think that if a poll was done that asked "what pissed you off more - the HST or the carbon tax?" the majority answer would be the carbon tax.

But, heh, it's the first and only in NA. It takes a lot to out kook the NDP.

"A selfless decision, one that allows the BC Liberal party a chance to re-brand with a new leader well in advance of the next election"

Hardly. He resigned a day after a caucus meeting to discuss the leadership convention later this month.

He didn't have any choice

I have not read all of the comments however in my opinion the cost of the HST per year per person is a drop in the bucket compared to all the carbon taxes hidden and not hidden.

Soon you will be paying an extra 7.5c litre every time you fuel up.

Even school districts have to buy carbon offsets @$25.00 per ton.(You can by carbon offsets in Chicago CCX exchange for .05c per ton) The cost for our school district is $69,000.00!! Where does Campbell think this money is coming from.

All the multi millions are going into the Pacific Carbon Trust for our govt to play with. They will dole some of the money out to Liberal friendly companies that say they will reduce their co2 output. Fn joke!

Campbells next move was going to be cap and trade...hopefully this is now out the window.

"The HST represented a decrease in taxes because the provincial tax was eliminated at all multiple levels of implementation in manufacturing , but the people of the province did not see that nor did Vander Zalm allow them to see what good this would do for the province. Mr. Vander Zalm has a vendetta and he implemented it to his eternal shame"

This just shows that you don't understand how the PST and HST work.
I am a small manufacturer. Under the PST tax when I bought product FOR my business I bought it PST exempt. If I sold to an end user (i.e. no pst exemption)I charged them PST (and GST). If I sold it to another business(with a pst exemption number) I didn't charge PST. There was no "implementation at multiple levels. Where PST did come into play was in the purchase of assets such as cars, trucks, machinery etc. There was generally no exemption for business on this.

As for Vanderzalm, I applaud him for "putting him money where his mouth is". He stepped up to the plate. There certainly was some information that they put out that was wrong but it was corrected promptly.
The government was guilty of the same. On a radio program that I called into Colin Hansen(minister of finance)suggested that under the HST businesses would no longer have to pay tax on lawyer and accountants fees(they would pay it but then get it back). WHAT HANSEN FAILED TO SAY WAS THAT LAWYERS AND ACCOUNTANTS FEES WERE NOT PST TAXABLE under the system.

And I think that recall is a VERY GOOD THING and hope it is successful. Not necessarily because of the HST but so that ALL POLITICIANS KNOW THEY CAN BE RECALLED. I will be canvassing for recall.

Full disclosure -- I'm a long-time Vancouver, now North Vancouver resident. It's been pretty fun reading how the ROC thinks we're all anarcho-commie hippies. That's all cool, we deserve it.

Campbell's first term was just so good. But, even good politicians go wrong when they stay too long. They start believing too much in the power of government to do good, especially when it's operating under their power. It's happened to Harper, too.

Still, looks like I'm in agreement with most BC folks here -- Campbell was a net positive for this province, even after the last few years.

Gordo got a little too predisposed to natives' demands, & threw the referendum on native issues under the train even though it was supposed to be binding on his government.

Allows what is basically native extortion to exist under the Oil & Gas Commission, & was set to sell the province out with his Reconciliation Act, even though compensation is a federal responsibility under BC's agreement to enter confederation.

Snowbunnie & Horny Toad

The repealed SST (aka the PST) DID NOT tax production machinery & equipment after 2001. If a manufacturer bought a machine lathe to make their product, it was SST exempt. Now the manufacturer must pay an additional 7% when the machine is bought. Yes, they are reimbursed from the HST they collect on sales but the impairment of cashflow on the purchase, their factory rent, enginneering/design consultant fees etc is HUGE. As any businessman will tell you, cashflow is a killer, especially at startup.
Export industries which do not collect HST on their sales must wait up to four months (if they purchase at the start of the tax cycle) for CRA to process their refund claim.
What the business will not net-pay tax on is the paper used in the office, the mop & pail used to clean the office and other minor expenses. The biggies; payroll, inventory, production equipment, rent. where NOT subject to SST.

Since some were mentioning it, Randy White is the chairman of the TAG (Tactical Advisory Group) team. He works in concert with many other former MPs, MLAs, premiers, and mayors. He is not the head of the party. Wayne McGrath is the president.

I hope Gordo doesn't give McGuinty any ideas. I and a lot of other voters in Ontario want the pleasure of tossing his sorry ass next October.

I never said anything to the fact I was a Carol James supporter. Talk to the people in Northern BC and see if they care about BC Rail. If plans go ahead the rail system as we know it will no longer exist. This is the most cost effective way of transporting goods to port. There is talk of ripping up the existing rails. When the union contracts that were ripped up regarding the care field, I was caught in the middle of two nursing homes. My father in one and my mother in another. I witnessed first hand what went down and how it effected the elderly people. Napkins ripped in half, fresh fruit cut out, people left laying in their own body waste because there was no longer enough people to take care of them. Not to mention people (nurses)that had 10 plus years have their lively hood ripped right out from under their feet. The intimidation of the union busters was something you only want to witness once in your life. Our political leaders should lead by example, a convicted drunk is not the example that we should have for our children and grandchildren. If you want to learn more about the wonderful Gordon Campbell google names: Laila Yuille or Lara Dauphinee or check out the Bilerburg group which Campbell attended a meeting last summer. Makes one go hmmmmmmmmm. I am just tiered of the people of BC being baought off with rebate cheques (carbon tax, to name one)to bribe the sheeple of this province.

MaryM - your comments about cancelled union contracts & union busting are interesting. It strikes me the coming years will see a lot of government union vs. taxpayer conflict.

As Margaret Thatcher said: “Pretty soon you run out of other people’s money”

One more: "Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state lives at the expense of everyone." Frederic Bastiat

I despised Campbell when he was Mayor and when he was Premier. He is the opposite side of the same coin as Glen Clark. Both have been a pain. Campbell held onto his leadership because the NDP ran Carole James, you have to wonder if the Liberals were financing her leadership bid, I can’t imagine why the NDP follow her. The Liberals got lazy assuming no one in their right mind would vote for Carole James, they were right, but then they drove the population out of their right mind and writing is on the wall. If they act quickly and move forward the binding referendum on the HST and a few other moves to distance themselves from Campbell they might stem the damage at the next election, but this Province has a habit of punishing political parties.
BC owed much of it’s success due to location and the right mix of resources, without those Campbell “successes” would have been short-lived. I am glad that I have a Conservative in my riding to vote for, otherwise I would have to hold my nose and vote for the resident Marxist-Leninist, god I miss the Rhino Party. There is no way I am giving my vote to the Liberals or the NDP.

Kate can confirm that the IP address this comment is coming from is one of the most notorious homeless shelters in Canada. I'm a homeless guy. And a conservative. Yeah, we exist.

I'm happy to see Gordo go only because it means winning a fourth consecutive majority will be easier for the non-socialist party currently in power (can't bring myself to say I am a L-i-b-e-r-a-l supporter). I remember the NDP years and organized labour is no friend of the poor or rich; just the small minority of union thug extortionists who are a cancer on our beautiful province. Most homeless folks are men, white men, and the NDP hates our guts.

I and other poor people are paying $2.50 for a bus ticket instead of $2.00 so that a relative handful of unionized extortionists at BC Transit can make an unreasonably high wage roughly twice as high as they would get in the free market. I'm supposed to wish these guys a good day as I get off the bus to go to my ten buck an hour day labour job? He's going to have a good day alright, on my dime. The world is indeed being run by crazy people.

BC is arguably the most right wing province in Canada, somewhat counterintuitively, and I love it. Keep an eye on BC folks and lend a hand if you can to keep the socialist savages out of power.

Just one point, my Dad care cost $3500 a month, he did not live at the taxpayers expense. The last two months of his life, myself and my sister basically lived at this home to make sure he was fed! (bathed and cleaned) My mother fared better, beacuse she had been there for ten years and was treated like a queen. Only because she had stole the hearts of her caregivers. I sure woouldn't want to have to have a loved one living in a care home in this province now. Maybe DanBC should go have a stay in one to find out what I am talking about.
I strongly believe that the resources of ones province should not be sold off. These are the assets of the province, ie: the people. Once all of our assets are sold, the only resources that are left is the taxpayer.
I don't even have a conservative to vote for in my riding!

I was born and raised in BC, the Lower Mainland is infested with the same progressive malaise as Toronto or any other large city.
Along With the morally challenged draft dodgers and deserters from the States we have been lumbered with the Loony Left diaspora from across Canada and the junkies followed them.This makes for rich NDP territory.Some of the most toxic Federal dippers are from Vancouver.
Rural areas liked Campbell due to his resistance to the extortion funded apartheid natives want to establish in BC.He flip-flopped on that,and ended up flushing huge amounts of tax dollars into what is in effect a kleptocracy.
The best hope for BC is that a leadership convention finds someone with the right mix of skills to keep the centre right coalition going.
Dianne Watts is a long shot as she is effective and happiest,where she is(Mayor of Surrey)
Kevin Falcon might be a good contender.During the early days of the sea-to-sky project,I appreciated how he stood up,as Highways Minister, to the hippies and Brie and Chardonnay rebels in West Vancouver.
The Conservative party needs to grow up a bit, it's leadership squabbles leave me wondering if they have any leadership skills.

"Once all of our assets are sold, the only resources that are left is the taxpayer. I don't even have a conservative to vote for in my riding!" - MaryM

I think this comment typifies too many people in BC who call themselves conservative. So a conservative is someone who believes in government ownership of the means of production? Five percent of BC is privately owned and that ownership number shrunk under Campbell.

The last BC government even close to conservative principles were Bill Bennett's Socreds. I lived in BC from 74 to 06, was involved in local politics and got to know Gordon Campbell. He once told me that he was his brother's greatest fan. Given that he sold out on almost every principle therein to conform to the political pressure cooker, it's no wonder he lost virtually all personal support. He evolved into a political leader who's only redeeming quality was that he wasn't NDP but in terms of policy differences the distinctions were subtle. His brand of socialism was more "business friendly" as opposed to "labour friendly".

The last Conservative Party attempt in BC came up with a platform no less wacky or interventionist (populist socialism as opposed to dogmatic socialism). If one cares about principles in BC the Libertarians are the only Party there (and they aren't really there). If one is to attempt the Tea Party route through the liberals, a whole lot of people have to get involved in politics because the existing politically active gene pool is overwhelmingly watermelon.

I now live in Washington State where the left Coast effect is similar to BC. They did, however have the foresight to privatize 60% of the state more than a century ago.

He didn't have any choice
Posted by: Horny Toad at November 4, 2010 1:03 AM

Sure he did. Like many other politicians in BC and elsewhere, he could have clung to power as long as possible, hurting his party even further as an election drew ever closer. He chose not to do this, and should be credited with this.

Leaving now, without fuss, allows the party to reposition itself, without controversy or drama, with over two and a half years until the next election. That's huge.

Colin (from Mission),

Voting for the BCC does not equal a win for the NDP. I can't reveal on here why this is so, however we could exchange phone numbers via e-mail if you'd like an explanation.

Suffice it to say, on here, that extensive long-term polling says otherwise.
Posted by: Gen. Lee Wright at November 3, 2010 7:37 PM

I was only going by history, General, and as a long-time BCer, will do anything in my power to prevent a marginal 2nd conservative party in BC from allowing the NDP back into power through a split vote. The 1990s were a lost decade here where, in the late 90s at least, everywhere else was largely doing well.

I would, however, be interested in seeing what information you may have. Email me at spatch at canada dot com. This is a throwaway email address, but I'll make a point of checking it over the coming days.

Posted by: neo at November 3, 2010 5:02 PM

neo, still waiting for an explanation for your unsolicited insult. Or, as I suspect, are you just a drive by, internet sniper? Classy.

*
"colon announces... still waiting for an explanation for your
unsolicited insult."

seriously... you're still waiting?

tell me, rosebud... do the slings & arrows of outrageous
fortune always balance out on your home planet?

'cos i, for sure, want some of that.

*

Possible replacement - Campbell.

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101103/bc_your_say_campbell_resigns_101103?hub=MontrealHome

My vote would go to Krueger - has done excellent job in his riding which was at 0 growth for 15 yrs b4 he was elected.

Poll from September 2009, even more relevant today;

Which of the following political leaders and parties associated with each, do you support most in terms of how much you like them and would support them?
Surrey mayor Dianne Watts and B.C. Conservatives 47 %
Gordon Campbell and B.C. Liberals 24 %
Carole James and B.C. New Democrats 17 %
Jane Sterk and B.C. Greens 03 %

Vote for the BC Conservatives, the NDP and the Liberals cannot be trusted.

BC deserves better.

Having lived through 10 years of their gross incompetance, I absolutely shudder at the thought of the NDP union hacks and champagne socialists lead by the underwhelming what's her name taking over, but I'm glad to see Gordo finally read the writing on the wall. It's really a shame things had to end this way, because he actually did a lot of good for the province. I was really pissed off when he got on the "damn the torpedos" climate change kick and rammed the carbon tax down our throats. The corruption of the BC Rail deal didn't help either. But his biggest mistake was the HST stunt. Ironically, the tax is probably better for the province than the PST, but Gordo tried to sneak it into place and in his arrogance, was blind-sided by Delany and The Zalm. What an incredible twist of irony. I hope Vander Zalm will crawl back into his hole now that he brought Campbell down and I can only hope that the Liberals will brain up and repeal the tax, whilst blaming the entire mess on Campbell and his lackey Hanson. Only then do they have the slightest hope in hell that the rage against their machine will cool off enough for people to realize that voting the NDP back in as a punishment would amount to cutting off one's nose to spite one's face. Please BC, don't do it! We all know where it will lead.