[news] Gordon Campbell's deck chair

[ron]

-------- Original Message --------
Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2004 10:22:03 -0800
From: shniad at sfu.ca


Globe and Mail	   Tuesday, January 6, 2004 - Page A13

Re: Gordon Campbell's deck chair

By Paul Sullivan

If I were Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia, I'd find somewhere
else to spend the Christmas holidays.

Obviously, the Hawaii project is doomed.

Last year, the Premier was convicted of driving under the influence while
enjoying (alas, too much) his annual Maui vacation. This year, during his
more sober respite, the RCMP raided the offices of the ministerial
assistants of two of his cabinet members. As part of the investigation, the
RCMP also talked to some top Liberal heavyweights, such as Mark Marissen,
Prime Minister Paul Martin's B.C. campaign chairman and husband of Deputy
Premier and Education Minister Christy Clark; Ms. Clark's brother, Bruce,
who's chief fundraiser for the federal B.C. Liberals, and Erik Bornman, who
runs communications for the federal B.C. Liberals.

The RCMP is tightlipped about the exact nature of the investigation, but a
spokesman has been downright poetic about the big picture. At a news
conference last week, Sergeant John Ward referred darkly to organized crime,
how it has reached "epidemic proportions" in B.C., "touching every region
and every major street corner." He said the $6-billion illegal marijuana
trade and its fallout -- "murders, beatings, extortion, money laundering" --
have spread like a "cancer on the social and economic well-being of all
British Columbians."

Sounds serious. The raid went down the weekend before New Year's and,
incredibly, Mr. Campbell just stayed in Maui. He sent fellow vacationer Gary
Collins -- Government House Leader and the boss of the one ministerial
assistant fired to date -- to face the music. Which Mr. Collins did, then
flew back to Hawaii. At this point, they should probably just stay there.

I have no idea what the Premier is thinking, but frolicking in Hawaii while
your brain trust is the target of an organized-crime dragnet is a death
wish. In the wake of the Glen Clark scandal, Gordon Campbell talked about a
"new era" that would wipe the slate clean. So when his government is
implicated in something that appears -- at first blush -- much worse, his
response is to move the deck chair into the shade?

So far, the RCMP won't release details of search warrants used in the raids.
The information blackout has only fuelled rumour and speculation, and the
principals have responded by playing dodge the bullet. House Leader Collins
was sufficiently distracted from his luau to contend, in a news conference,
that "the speculation ends up, usually, being greater than the facts that
underlie the actual event." Mr. Marissen and Mr. Clark have also told the
media they're not suspects, and Mr. Marissen says the connection to the
federal government is "tenuous at best."

So we shouldn't worry? Guess not. I suppose the truth will emerge from the
fog of speculation, but until it does, rumours are all we've got. And these
are some rumours. The two assistants targeted in the raid, Dave Basi and Bob
Virk, are Liberal backroom boys from way back, and are connected to
everything from the sale of BC Rail to the coup that led the Paul Martin
forces to seize the constituency association of Chrétien loyalist Herb
Dhaliwal right from under his nose. It's rash, at least, to draw
conclusions, but there are so many questions that need answers.

It's rash, at least, to draw conclusions, but there are so many questions
that need answers.

Unfortunately for the people of British Columbia, no one in charge seems
much interested in addressing those questions. Not Solicitor-General Rich
Coleman, who must be cautious about compromising the investigation, not Mr.
Collins, who had to catch a plane back to Maui, and certainly not Gordon
Campbell, who to this point has only agreed to come to the phone. Leadership
remains an opportunity waiting to be seized. At the very least, the Premier
should have taken the first plane home and tried to show that while the cops
are bracing all these important government officials, someone is protecting
the public interest.

This may be a bad time for Gordon Campbell -- his approval rating was at its
lowest point even before the RCMP raid -- but it's a worse time for B.C. The
opposition is split between rookie NDP Leader Carol James, whose previous
political experience was on the Victoria School Board, and Green Leader
Adriane Carr, who hasn't convinced voters she's more than a one-trick pony.

So we have one leader who, on the whole, would rather be in Maui, and two
unelected, untested fringe players in opposition. B.C. voters responded to
the last scandal by giving Mr. Campbell a huge mandate. How will they
respond to this one? By the time election day arrives (May 17, 2005), the
latest scandal may have evaporated, but the strong stench of Mr. Campbell's
hesitation at the helm will continue to linger. It's hard to believe that
voters will just wrap the mantle around Carol James, but this is B.C.
Stranger things are, um, happening all the time.

psullivan at globeandmail.ca

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040106/COSULL0
6/Columnists/Idx

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