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发帖数: 8732 | 1 B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell is stepping down and has asked his party to
hold a leadership convention.
Campbell made the announcement during a surprise news conference Wednesday
morning in Vancouver, accompanied by his wife and children.
Campbell's leadership of the provincial Liberal Party had been under attack
since his introduction of the Harmonized Sales Tax and there were rumours
that several Liberal MLAs were planning on calling for Campbell to step down
at an upcoming caucus meeting.
Campbell's popularity had plunged to as low as nine per cent in some recent
polls, and despite attempts to reverse his political fortunes with a cabinet
shuffle and a 15 per cent provincial income tax cut last week, he was
unable to fend off repeated calls for his resignation.
"After considerable soul-searching and discussion with my family, I have
decided to ask the B.C. Liberal Party executive to hold a leadership
convention at the earliest possible date to select a new leader for our
party," Campbell said in his short speech.
"Over the last few weeks, our government has continued to move forward with
initiatives that will create jobs, build a stronger economy and support
families across British Columbia," he said.
"Yet it is clear to me that those initiative are being overshadowed. When
public debate becomes focused on one person, instead of what is in the best
interest of British Columbians, we have lost sight about what is important.
When that happens, it's time for change."
Cabinet members said they expect Campbell will stay on as premier until he
is replaced by the party at a convention.
East Kootenay MLA Bill Bennett was the first to openly criticize Campbell's
leadership, but after the announcement Bennett had nothing but good things
to say about the premier.
"He obviously wasn't doing so well in the polls, so he concluded the best
thing he could do for the province and party was step aside and it's an
honourable act," he said.
Bennett said Campbell came to the conclusion he needed to step down on his
own and was not pushed by a disgruntled caucus.
Gordon Wilson, the last B.C. Liberal Party leader before Campbell, said the
premier's aggressive economic agenda may have cost him the job.
"He succeeded in turning the economy of the province into something that
generally managed us well for the first part of this decade," said Wilson.
"I think where he went wrong — where he went seriously wrong — I think was
when he started to dispose of public assets. And I think that's when people
initially started to get concerned about the sale of BC Rail, dismantling
of Hydro and those sorts of things," said Wilson.
'His time had come': NDP
NDP Leader Carole James issued a statement thanking the premier for his
service to the province, but said even with Campbell gone, the HST remains.
“On behalf of B.C.’s Official Opposition, I want to thank Premier Gordon
Campbell for his many years of public service and for the contribution he
has made to British Columbia. And I want to offer special recognition to his
family who have also made the sacrifices associated with public life," said
James.
“Premier Campbell made the right decision today. It’s become increasingly
clear the B.C. Liberals have broken trust with the people they were elected
to serve. No issue shows that more clearly than the HST.
“But we must also remember that all B.C. Liberals played a part in the HST
deception. All B.C. Liberals played a part in the slashing of public
services, in the growth of social inequality we’ve seen in B.C. over the
past decade," she said.
NDP MLA Norm Macdonald said it was a bit of a surprise, but also obvious the
premier had to quit.
"Like most British Columbians, I think his time had come and his leaving is
a good thing," said MacDonald.
"This past year the government has not operated effectively. They have
stumbled from mistake to mistake and there is a cost to that for all British
Columbians, so I think he needed to go," he said.
But Macdonald added that Campbell gave most of his life to public service
and he should be thanked by British Columbians for that.
Leadership hopefuls yet to step forward
After the announcement, Campbell's cabinet ministers said they only learned
of the premier's plans half an hour before the public announcement.
When asked who potential successors might be, cabinet members presented a
united front saying it was a day for praising Campbell's 26 years in public
office and three terms as premier of B.C., and not speculating about who
might replace him.
Finance Minister Colin Hansen did say he had no plans to seek the leadership
of the party.
http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/cbc-article.aspx?cp-documentid=26212898 |
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