2/7/2011 Globe and Mail: Hate Campbell?

Don't …

January 24, 2011

Hate Campbell? Don't worry: Join the BC Liberals anyway

By ROBERT MATAS
Globe and Mail Update

Haida Gwaii's QCI Observer tells readers how to vote for the next premier

You don't have to be a fan of the B.C. Liberals, agree with party policy or have ever voted for them. Even if you
hate Gordon Campbell, you just might want to consider joining the Liberal Party before Feb. 4, says the QCI
Observer [http://www.qciobserver.com/opinion.aspx?opinion=20] in Haida Gwaii.

A membership is all that is required to have "a big say" in picking B.C.'s next premier. In a general election, voters
can only cast a ballot for their local MLA, not directly for the Premier. Also, a lot less people will be voting in this
race than in a provincial election, so your ballot will count for more, the paper says.

..........

Liberal MLA Donna Barnett (Cariboo-Chilcotin) says she will sit as an Independent MLA if British Columbians vote
against the HST in the referendum and the B.C. Liberal government does not wipe it out, reports 100 Mile House
Free Press [http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/100milefreepress/news/114176294.html].

She rejects a suggestion that remarks by B.C. Liberal candidates on the HST were irrelevant because the
referendum was non-binding. "If the people say they want to get rid of [the HST] during the referendum and the
government doesn't abide by those wishes, I'll become an independent MLA," she says.

............

The HST was also on the mind of NDP MLA Norm M acdonald (Columbia River-Revelstoke).The HST debacle
indicates the democratic system is in crisis, he writes in the Revelstoke Times Review
[http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_rockies/revelstoketimesreview/opinion/114228599.html].

"We need to change the way we elect MLAs," he says. The voting system should be changed to a mixed member,
proportional representation system that would make the Legislature more diverse and force elected members to be
more responsive to the will of the people, he says.

..............

Don't under-estimate the NDP, says Liberal leadership contender George Abbott.

The Smithers Interior News [http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_north/interior-news/news/114301364.html#]reports Mr.

Abbott was adamant in his opposition to a snap election after the leadership race.

Despite the NDP's own leadership issues, they are likely to re-strengthen quicker than the Liberals, Mr. Abbott was
quoted as saying in the newspaper. "[They're] a force to be reckoned with," he said, adding that the Liberals will
need the next 2 1/2 years to rebuild the Liberal party and reconnect with British Columbians.
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2/7/2011 Globe and Mail: Hate Campbell? Don't …
.................

Premier Gordon Campbell will be remembered as one of B.C.'s best premiers, former Social Credit cabinet
minister Bruce Strachan says in the Prince George Citizen
[http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20110113/princegeorge0301/301139976/-1/princegeorge/campbell-
played-his-hand-well#].

Mr. Strachan writes that Mr. Campbell was an insecurity politician, a poor communicator, strident, aloof and easy to
dislike, But in two of his significant decisions - the BC Rail lease and the introduction of a harmonized sales tax -
history will show his policies were correct, Mr. Strachan says. "B.C. does, and for years to come will, owe a debt of
gratitude to Gordon Campbell."

.................

Meanwhile in federal politics:

The politics of fish is tripping up Indian Affairs Minister John Duncan in his riding of Vancouver Island North. The
Sport Fishing Institute of BC says Mr. Duncan is sacrificing the interests of 100,000 recreational anglers in order to
support 436 commercial quota holders in the allocation of halibut for the 2011 season.

"It seems clear that Duncan feels that the recreational halibut fishery is unimportant to his constituents both as a
social pursuit and as a significant employer on Northern Vancouver Island," says institute president Rob Allcock in
the Campbell River Courier-Islander [http://www2.canada.com/courierislander/news/opinion/story.html?
id=08162abb-8f75-45e9-a328-9e2d3ef11b91].

In response, Mr. Duncan says management of the halibut fishery, should be based on science, thorough monitoring
and good management principles. "There are many examples historically to demonstrate that decisions based on
politics, rather than science, rarely yield the best result for the fishery," Mr. Duncan writes in the newspaper. "Any
change must provide a fair balance between the unique West Coast requirements of the First Nation, recreation
and commercial sectors," he writes

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