Resignation 'Par For The Course' In BC Politics

By Michelle Cyr-Whiting

Prince George, B.C. -  While Premier Gordon Campbell's resignation may come as a shock to some, a political scientist at UNBC says it really is par for the course in B.C. politics.

Jason Morris says, "We really have to, in the B.C. Liberal Party and in premiers, as a whole, go back to the 1920S to find a leader that didn't resign."

"Most leaders in B.C., most premiers, are not stepping down because they feel they finished the job they wanted to do -- they are resigning after personal or party defeat or scandal, and, again, this is what we have."

Morris says there could be many behind-the-scenes reasons for Gordon Campbell's decision, but he points to the HST and the Premier's low standings in the polls as obvious ones.  Still, he says, he was surprised by Campbell's announcement today, he had expected this morning's news conference to be related to the HST, "Perhaps lowering it down a point or pushing ahead the referendum on it."

As for what Campbell's resignation means for the referendum, the UNBC poli sci expert says, "It certainly brings a lot of uncertainty to the future status of the HST because the Premier was, along with the Finance Minister, the key spokesman and champion of it."

As late as last Thursday, when speaking on the Meisner program, Gordon Campbell said he had no plans to walk away in the middle of this HST challenge.  And Morris says that's what makes the Premier's announcement so surprising because he's been known as a scrapper back to when he was a teacher and mayor of Vancouver.

Morris says the obvious frontrunner to replace Campbell would have been Carole Taylor, but just last week she was appointed Chancellor of Simon Fraser University, taking her out of the race.  So it will be interesting to see what shapes up at the policy-turned-leadership convention set for Penticton later this month.

Finally, when asked about the now-resigned Premier's legacy, Morris looks at both sides of the coin, "The HST legacy will be a negative for the poor process and the manner in which it was conducted."

"If I could suggest a positive legacy, it would be that for about nine years, the Premier did manage to preside over a province in sort of a bland or even administrative fashion, after much political turmoil in the 1990s with the NDP."  But Morris adds, "It just seems that he couldn't keep that turmoil at bay for much longer and here we are, back to where we often are in B.C. politics."

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