Bruce Strachan
Right Side Up
What a week this has been. It's astonishing; the B.C. political scene is getting more ink than Justin Bieber; probably causing more broken hearts too.
Mining minister Bill Bennett was dumped from cabinet and caucus after slamming Gordon Campbell.
The Liberals are climbing back in the polls. And finally, can NDP leader Carole James contain the current caucus unrest, or is the NDP revolting? (A little play there on innuendo.)
First, to Bill Bennett, is he a loose cannon, or an openly honest and outspoken critic? The answer is probably somewhere in between.
The record shows Bennett is no stranger to self-inflicted wounds. In 2007 he was forced to resign his ministry of state for mining portfolio after writing an intemperate and moderately profane e-mail to the local head of a rod and gun club.
Last July, Bennett was in the soup again for an angry letter to an environmental group. In the letter Bennett described the group as eco fascists. Language considered a bit over the top for a cabinet minister. In this missive, Bennett also misspelled fascist, curious for one who claims to have an honors degree in English as well as a law degree.
Last week Bennett called Gordon Campbell a control freak and a bully and said he should resign as premier now, instead of staying until the February Liberal leadership convention.
On those assertions, Bennett is right. Campbell is not helping the party at all by sticking around. A quick clean break is the best break.
On Campbell's bullying, again, Bennett is speaking with some credibility. The first sign of this came shortly after Campbell won his huge majority in 2001. The NDP was reduced to two seats. It takes four seats to have official party status. Campbell should have offered this benefit to the NDP. Instead he stuck to the letter of the law. The result? The NDP leader of the day, Joy MacPhail, became an instant martyr and media darling. Campbell's mean-spirited attitude hurt his party and in the minds of many - particularly the parliamentary press gallery - caused irreparable damage to his reputation.
So there it is, and it is what it is. A loose cannon up against a sour and failed politician who's desperately clinging to his own misguided sense of importance. It's too bad; Gordon Campbell made some tough yet correct decisions. The long-term lease of BCR, the carbon tax and the HST will benefit the province in the long run. But in the end his inability to communicate well and gain the trust of the people became his Achilles' heel.
Meanwhile back on the street and in the real world of the electorate, there is some light at the end of the Liberal tunnel, and it's not the NDP express coming straight at them.
A Nov. 4 to Nov.15 survey by the Mustel Group shows Liberal fortunes climbing. Mustel - known for consistently accurate polling - has the Liberals trailing the NDP by just five points. Given that Campbell announced his resignation Nov. 3, I'm sure there are some wags in the party wondering if he could resign again. By way of contrast, in May of this year, Mustel had the NDP 12 points ahead.
The plot thickens though, when over in left field, we see the NDP has set its cat amongst the pigeons and is furiously working to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
NDP leader Carole James has a major revolt on her hands. Fourteen NDP MLAs, including Bob Simpson - expelled over a month ago - want James to leave. It's bizarre. Although it's been said by many that Gordon Campbell was Carole James' best ally, this is not the time for the New Democrats to implode all on their own.
The old adage in politics is, when your opponent is falling; just get out of the way,
The next election is over two years away. The Liberals - no matter who wins the leadership race - have the HST issue to resolve and the best thing for the NDP to do would be to sit back and see what happens. Carole James will leave, but if the NDP wants to show us it can manage the province, it first has to show it can manage its own affairs with some degree of competence, to date, a concept well beyond its grasp.
Ah, what a week, as B.C. politics unfold slowly, surely and not without its own rendition of chaotic excitement.
