Premier Gordon Campbell steps down

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Premier Gordon Campbell is stepping down.

Campbell, who holds a nine per cent approval rating, says, “After considerable soul-searching and discussions with my family, I have decided to ask the BC Liberal party executive to hold a leadership convention at the earliest possible date to select a new leader of the party.”

Campbell went on to talk about recent moves like his personal income tax cuts, school initiatives, job creation, and the economy. “It is clear to me that those initiatives have been overshadowed. And when public debate becomes focused on one person as opposed to what’s in the best interest of the province of British Columbia, we’ve lost sight of what’s important.”

The introduction of the harmonized sales tax has been a disaster for the B.C. Liberals, and Campbell’s popularity has dropped into the single digits for the first time in three terms. The Premier kept his composure during today’s speech, although he lost a little of it toward the end as he said goodbye. He says politics has taken its toll. “I want to thank all of my family. My sister, my brothers, my nieces and nephews, but most importantly Nancy and Jeffrey and Nicolas. They’ve all paid the price for my 26 years of public service.”

Campbell did not take any questions after the short announcement, but he is promising to speak to the media once again tomorrow.

John Winter with the BC Chamber of Commerce calls Campbell a good premier and his resignation comes as a shock. “The legacy is very clear. Mr. Campbell has taken British Columbia from the dark ages in the 90s to a leadership position in a number of areas. We have amongst the strongest tax regimes in North America.”

He says the Premier’s resignation does come as a surprise, “something that we’re going to have to deal with quickly. Mr. Campbell has been a good economic manager, and he will be missed.”

But the BC Federation of Labour disagrees. President Jim Sinclair isn’t mincing words. He says this is a great day for the province.

“He has a legacy of record poverty, taking the highest minimum wage in the country and ramming it down to the lowest, bringing in a $6 minimum wage, cutting public services, and having no economic strategy except cutting taxes. It’s not a decade we can be proud of as British Columbians.”

He says inequality is greater than ever in our province. “You can celebrate the Olympics. Some people did. It’s was actually the NDP that got the Olympics, not Gordon Campbell really. Now, I think overall you have to look at this agenda and realize there is nothing to celebrate here.”

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