For those who do not live in the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) you might not know the actors in this ongoing drama, but the plot remains interesting none the less. The premier of British Columbia, Gordon Campbell, recently resigned over a massive backlash he and his government have faced following the undemocratic implementation of a harmonized sales tax (HST). The actual issue at hand is interesting, but not that important to the context of this article. What is particularly intriguing is the litany of BC premiers who recently have had to step down from their post in disgrace. Sure, not all of British Columbia’s leaders have shamefully exited the public spotlight, but an alarming amount have. Furthermore, it seems the majority of those who have not resigned were the premiers who replaced disgraced leaders.
Before Campbell, there was Glen Clark, who was forced to tender his resignation over the “Casinogate” scandal. Clark had accepted $10,000 in “free” renovations in exchange for granting one Dimitrios Pilarinos the casino application he sought. Immediately preceding Clark was Mike Harcourt. At one-time a highly popular premier, Harcourt crashed back to earth and out of the premiership during the so-called “Bingogate” scandal. Do we notice a developing trend? Harcourt had used funds from a charity bingo tournament to fund his New Democratic Party.
Continuing our look back, we stop next at Bill Vandersalm, the last elected leader before Harcourt. Vandersalm was an Evangelical Christian who owned a scripture-based theme park known as Fantasy Gardens. When it came out that the Taiwanese-based buyer of the park had been provided VIP government treatment, including lunch with the Lieutenant-Government (the Queen’s representative in BC), Vandersalm was forced to step down amidst the scandal.
These men actually carry on a tradition of scandal that dates back to British Columbia’s early provincehood. In the 30-or-so years after 1871, when the British colony of BC joined Canada, until 1903, when political parties first made their appearance in BC politics, the province ran through a revolving door of 15 premiers. British Columbia’s leaders have a history of using their position to influence personal business dealings. The 2nd premier, Amor de Cosmos (the name alone should be a red flag) resigned because he used his position ensure several favourable land deals. The 3rd stepped down over misappropriation of public funds concerning a dock-facility in Vancouver. The 14th, coal-baron James Dunsmuir has been labeled the “most corrupt leader in BC history”. The list goes on and on.
Gordon Campbell fought hard against having to resign due to scandal. In 2004, the premier was arrested for drunk driving while on vacation in Hawaii. Because his government was taking a very hard-line approach with drinking and driving at the time, many felt his resignation was imminent. It never came. Campbell preserved, the man was obviously not a quitter; however, in the end, he had to fulfil his destiny. Thus was his fate as premier of British Columbia.
