108 Replies to ““It’s time for a new person to lead the province,””

  1. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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!

  9. 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.

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

  11. 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?

  12. 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.

  13. 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!!!

  14. 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?

  15. 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.

  16. “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.

  17. “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.)

  18. 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.

  19. 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.

  21. 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???????

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

  25. 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!

  26. 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?

  27. 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!

  28. 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.

  29. “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.

  30. 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.

  31. 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.

  32. 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?

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

  35. 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.

  36. 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.

  37. “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

  38. 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.

  39. “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.

  40. 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.

  41. 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.

  42. 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.

  43. 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.

  44. 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.

  45. 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.

  46. 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

  47. 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.

  48. 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.

  49. 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!

  50. 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.

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