What Will He Think of Next?: B.C. voters thought they were
electing a particular sort of premier. They've gotten quite
another
Western Standard
Mon 26 Mar 2007

Page: 17
Section: News
Byline: Terry O'Neill
Source: Western
Standard

Who is Gordon Campbell and what is he doing to British
Columbia? If you had asked that question six years ago, after his initial
electoral victory, most British Columbians would have answered that, for better
or worse, the B.C. Liberal premier was a right-wing cost-cutter consumed with
downsizing the civil service, cutting taxes and making it easier for businesses
to grow and wealth to be created. Ask the same question today, however, and the
answer is less obvious.

Don't blame the people for this lack of clarity. The problem is that Campbell
has executed some ideological shifts so severe, it's a wonder they didn't
register on the seismograph at the Pacific Geoscience Centre a half-hour's drive
north of Victoria's legislature. "In the last year and a half, there has been
much less evidence of ideological direction," says political scientist John
Redekop, who maintains ties to both Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario and
Trinity Western University in B.C. "The negative of that is that there is less
ideological consistency. That's important, because voters don't know what to
expect."

Campbell's first big shift came in 2005, when he reversed his party's
position on aboriginal affairs (ignoring an overwhelming referendum result in
the process) by launching a "new relationship" with aboriginals that recognized
their inherent property, resource and self-government rights. The new
accommodation of aboriginals was made abundantly clear on Feb. 12, when Campbell
opened a ceremony marking the three-year countdown to the 2010 Winter Olympics
in Vancouver by noting the event was taking place on traditional Salish
territory, and by welcoming onlookers in three languages--Salish, English and
French.

The change was more than symbolic, as it signalled the government's
willingness to open the provincial treasury to buy peace with the natives. Most
dramatic was the $120-million federal-provincial deal reached last December with
the tiny Tsawwassen band in suburban Vancouver. The agreement is worth about
$330,000 for each band member, making it one of the richest in Canadian history.

Campbell also surprised many British Columbians with his unexpected embrace
of global warming alarmism in his government's February throne speech. As he
explained in a later essay, Campbell believes in the existence of an "ominous"
and "potentially devastating" warming trend in the weather. He says his
government will take "bold action" to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least
33 per cent below present levels within 13 years. He provided no cost estimates,
nor did he promise to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of his plan.

The throne speech was followed by a tax-cutting budget that, while
technically balanced, also increased the provincial debt by $2.5 billion (to
$36.8 billion). The C.D. Howe Institute noted in a Feb. 26 report that B.C. is one
of only two provinces (the other being Alberta) that have recorded worsening
expenditure overruns in the past five years.

Nevertheless, B.C.'s books are generally in good shape and its economy is
strong. But last year's lavish, billion-dollar settlement with civil servants
plus this year's increase in debt is cause for concern, says Calgary analyst and
author Mark Milke. "The Liberals have to be very careful about how much they're
spending," Milke says. "They have to be careful about the size of the public
sector--still very large relative to the province's economy."

Campbell's increasingly centrist B.C. Liberal party continues to enjoy a big
lead over the left-wing NDP and the further left Green party (with 45 per cent
support, compared to 36 for the NDP and 16 for the Greens, according to one
late-December poll), and there appears to be no coherent opposition from the
right.

Still, B.C. Conservative Leader Wilf Hanni thinks Campbell's stroll to the
centre gives the Tories an opportunity. "They are indeed going the way of all
Liberal parties, running for election on a moderate conservative platform and
then, once elected, implementing a left-wing agenda," Hanni says. Even the
Liberals' tax cuts have been a charade, he declares, because they have been more
than offset by increased user fees and reduced services.

Redekop describes Campbell's reversals as "opportunism," but also notes the
changes have not hurt his popularity. One might say, then, that Campbell is
giving B.C. voters what they want, even if they didn't know they wanted it when
they were voting for him.

© 2007 Western Standard

Illustration:
• Colour Photo: CP, Chuck Stoody /
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, elected as a right-of-centre Liberal, has taken a
swing to the left with his embrace of native rights and global warming
alarmism

Edition: Final
Story Type: News
Length: 707
words