Prince George, B.C. - Prince George, Valemount MLA Shirley Bond says  the terms used by Bill Bennett to describe Gordon Campbell’s leadership style were “outrageous”. Speaking on the Meisner program on CFISFM this morning,  Bond says yes there have been lively discussions within Cabinet, but for Bennett to compare the situations within a Cabinet meeting to battered wife syndrome was “disrespectful to women who have found themselves in that kind of situation.”

 

Bennett made the comments to the media  after he was asked to leave Cabinet because of comments he had made which called for Campbell to step aside immediately.

 

Bond says the Premier was not in the room when the decision was made by Cabinet to ask Bennett to leave Cabinet. 

She says Cabinet also made the decision to suspend the tax cut which was promised by Premier Campbell in his address to the province just one week before he resigned. Bond says the decision to rescind the tax was made in an effort to give a new leader as much flexibility as possible. “As we look to the future, the idea of having a new leader is invigorating people, they want to have the opportunity to speak to those potential candidates, so from my perspective, we want to give them (the candidates) as much room as possible to allow a potential new leader to make that decision as we move into March.”

 

Bond says the Cabinet has a responsibility to carry out the business of the Province and “It is essential the members of that  Cabinet team can trust each other  and we can show British Columbians we are committed to a fiscal responsibility.”

 

Bond says she has received numerous calls  encouraging  her  to run for the party leadership, but she says while

flattered,   being  an effective MLA is more important and the job as leader can be very demanding  on family and draining on the person who holds the post  “It literally sucks the life out of people . You really can’t win much of the time as Premier. In many ways it is very unfortunate that people have lost sight of the good that has been done in addition to their views about his (Campbell’s) leadership. I understand  that, but I can tell you, I’ve watched the work ethic and what it has done to him as a person and as a family. I’m not prepared to put my family through that.”

 

She says it is too soon to speculate about whether she will run  again in 2013, “We need to concentrate on what lies ahead, I love where I live and I want to make sure we’re recognized for the resource base that we are, for the wealth generator that we are. I want to make sure our kids have equal opportunity  that’s why medical programs and university programs are important to me, so it’s too soon to speculate about 2013. What’s  important now is that   we demonstrate to British Columbia that we are a team and we can set aside all of the issues that are   around us and surrounding us, and that we have a viable,  significant foundation to build on.   We need to do that now, we need to concentrate  on looking ahead . My personal decisions will be just those, and they will be made over the course of the next couple of years.  I love where I live and I want to ensure is has great representation, and all I can say to my constituents is that I’m going to continue to work hard, even through this transition to make sure Northern voices are heard in Victoria.”