Premier Campbell Quits

[Pinner]

Live Press Conference @ 9AM BC time.


http://www.globaltvbc.com/

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Last 4 elected premiers in BC, all ended up resigning rather than get beat in the next election when their popularity was beaten down. Vanderzalm, Harcourt, and Glen Clark all resigned before dropping the writ. Although the NDP probably made the most improbable comeback in history when Glen Clark took over from Harcourt after the Bingo scandle and basically stole a sure thing from Campbells Liberals.

Who's in line to become the next leader of the BC Liberals anyways?

ya but what I meant was Vanderzalm and Clark waited too long that their parties had no chance of winning, if Campbell had waited another year or so (although he may have not even had the chance if the rumors are true) the Liberals would have been in big trouble for the next election.

Now they have a chance

[Pinner]

I got the feeling from this mornings press conference that his unpopularity was weighing on his family members, he mentioned it a couple times this morning and in yesterdays short speech as well.

He got quite passionate while talking about public service, and how we as Canadians need to focus on the issues, rather than attacking politicians on a personal level.

All the economists say the HST is a good tax that will improve business investment etc. but the public just absolutely hate Campbell for this tax.

[evman150]

Letter from Carole James to BC NDP members:

Gordon Campbell has announced his resignation as premier of British Columbia.

In his nearly ten years as premier, Campbell has left a path of destruction and
misery throughout our province.

He led the charge to cut funding for schools, hospitals, and vital social services.

He has kept the minimum wage frozen for a decade, while raising his own salary.

He lied to our province about the HST.

He was a divisive leader, who pitted British Columbians against one another, rather
than uniting people to solve our common issues.

This moment is a victory for every British Columbian who has opposed nearly ten
years of the BC Liberals’ reckless agenda.

It’s a victory for every teacher and healthcare worker who has walked a picket line
to demand better funding for students and patients.

It’s a victory for every volunteer who has helped bring change at election time, or
worked to make the HST initiative a success.

It’s a victory for every British Columbian.

We all have a lot of work to do to build the province we want. But with Gordon
Campbell’s resignation, change is coming to our province.

Take a moment to join with New Democrats across the province who are celebrating the
end of Gordon Campbell.

Organize a party with your friends and family on Facebook and in your community to
celebrate this victory:
http://www.gifttool.com/donations/Do...D=176&AID=1151

The work continues to build our strong alternative. But this is a great time for our
province.

Let’s celebrate.

[peter12]

Let's be honest, the NDP have absolutely no direction or idea what they are doing. They don't want service funding cut, but they also oppose a sales tax, one of the best economic solutions to taxation?

Come on. How do their supporters take the party and themselves seriously? What a colossal joke.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by edn88

And I have to agree - if you have to have a PST and a GST, then having a HST is really the smart thing to do. BC - if you hate your HST so much, get rid of your PST - ie. stop spending so much public money!

It's not that people hate the HST and refuse to give it a chance. It is the fact that at election time when people voted Liberal, we were told "We are not planning to switch to an HST at all." Then days after the election, "Hey guys, we're switching over to an HST!"

The Liberals have done that kind of thing too many times over the past ten years, and really should not have been re-elected last time because of it. The Liberals' saving grace has been how un-politically savvy Carol James is. She is a testament to how bad the NDP and their leadership is to get into power. A leader with even half a brain and a small modicum of charisma would have been in power for 8 years now.

Any other leader and I'd say the Liberals are gone next election. Carol James will find a way to turn this into a loss, which is sad.

Edit- Case in point. If she was smart, she'd be immediately pointing out how Campbell stepping down does not change anything and how the Liberals are merely changing their face in hopes of making people forget.

Instead she acts like she just won the election. She's terrible. Soooo terrible.

Originally Posted by Pinner

All the economists say the HST is a good tax that will improve business investment etc. but the public just absolutely hate Campbell for this tax.

You can't blatantly lie and expect people to be okay with it. Not in politics.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

ya but what I meant was Vanderzalm and Clark waited too long that their parties had no chance of winning, if Campbell had waited another year or so (although he may have not even had the chance if the rumors are true) the Liberals would have been in big trouble for the next election.

Now they have a chance

Hard to say, in Glen Clarks case, I think he was pretty much dead either way. In fact him coming in was the only reason the NDP survived that election, I don't think he could have done anything to avoid getting crushed in the next election. IMO BC voters dropped the ball by electing another NDP government.

I think the Socreds were dead with or without Vanderzalm. Even if he'd resigned at the start of the fantasy garden thing.

[Pinner]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

You can't blatantly lie and expect people to be okay with it. Not in politics.

This morning he said (again) the feds offered him the same HST deal Ont. had just negotiated after the election.

He knows the HST makes sense, no need to negotiate a deal with the feds and he had 4 years to sell the tax. He didn't sell it, he needed to educate the masses about the benefits of blending the taxes.

Instead he got caught up in the Olympics, underestimated Vanderzalm's campaign against the HST, and still didn't really sell the tax.

I think he could have pulled it off if he put more effort into it.

He gambled and lost.

[CaptainCrunch]

[Canuck-Hater]

Couldn't that DUI mug be applied to Ralph Klein as well? Okay maybe not a DUI but he was a drunk thats for dam sure.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Pinner

This morning he said (again) the feds offered him the same HST deal Ont. had just negotiated after the election.

He knows the HST makes sense, no need to negotiate a deal with the feds and he had 4 years to sell the tax. He didn't sell it, he needed to educate the masses about the benefits of blending the taxes.

Instead he got caught up in the Olympics, underestimated Vanderzalm's campaign against the HST, and still didn't really sell the tax.

I think he could have pulled it off if he put more effort into it.

He gambled and lost.

Cambell right from day one of taking over the liberals, before he was premier was always seen as a bit sleazy and untrustworthy, he never managed to shake that image (mostly because he is somewhat sleazy and untrustworthy) he has counted on the public not holding him accountable to his pre election promises and this time it didn't work.

I don't think there was a damn thing he could have done to avoid this, short of going back in time to announce that the min of finance was in negotiation with the feds and the HST was a possibility months before the election.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by evman150

Letter from Carole James to BC NDP members:

Wow, what a brutal and unneccesary letter. Parties over his quitting? Really? Ugly stuff.

[Pinner]

Originally Posted by Canuck-Hater

Couldn't that DUI mug be applied to Ralph Klein as well? Okay maybe not a DUI but he was a drunk thats for dam sure.

Noo, not Ralph

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Wow, what a brutal and unneccesary letter. Parties over his quitting? Really? Ugly stuff.

the funny thing is, the outrage over the HST probably saved her job because she likely would have been fired if there was no other big story to come out after the election

and now some people are calling for her to quit as well, she's just an idiot and that letter is completely asinine

[simonsays]

You can argue the merits of the HST until you're red in the face. But the timing of the new tax was brutal, both politically and economically. Why would anyone decide that a recession is a good time to add an additional 7% tax on labour? Hmm, the job market sure seems weak, lets tax the hell out of it!

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Pinner

This morning he said (again) the feds offered him the same HST deal Ont. had just negotiated after the election.

Which is another lie. Documents have already come out showing that they were discussing it BEFORE AND DURING the election, despite him saying that they had no plans for it during the election. Campbell just REALLY likes lying.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Which is another lie. Documents have already come out showing that they were discussing it BEFORE AND DURING the election, despite him saying that they had no plans for it during the election. Campbell just REALLY likes lying.

could replace Campbell with every politician

the ends are going to justify the means here, if he had said something about the HST before the election than the NDP could have possibly gotten in. And in the end the HST will end up being a good thing.

In the history of western democracy there has never been a candidate who didn't go back on something they said after winning an election.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

In the history of western democracy there has never been a candidate who didn't go back on something they said after winning an election.

Not keeping a promise to lower taxes is one thing. Flat out saying "We have no plans for an HST," While openly talking about it and then days after the election doing it are another entirely. It's political suicide, especially if you get caught.

[d_phaneuf]

ya obviously, and he probly didn't realize how bad it was going to be because the general public hears higher taxes and goes in to panic mode, regardless of the fact that taxes are still lower than when he took office.

But what I was saying was, if the plan was HST all along than it was the right thing to do, no point taking the chance of allowing the NDP in office (who would have raised taxes one or another as well, or just sent the province in an almost unrecoverable debt for all the social services they promised to add or upgrade)

[Pinner]

And we could've built some more fast ferries