Why does Gordon Campbell not deserve the honour of the Order of British Columbia? Let me count the reasons.
As a political centrist, or what would in a proper world be a Liberal, I find the one item in which Mr. Campbell has affected me the most negatively is his destruction of B.C.’s political centre.
Mr. Campbell literally hijacked the Liberal brand because he recognized that provincially, Conservatives could not be elected, so he engineered one of his many political coups-de-tats and deposed Gordon Wilson – a real Liberal – as leader of the B.C. Liberals and managed to drag them to the ultra right of the political spectrum, leaving B.C. with no political centre.
I can never forgive him for that particular deception.
All the rest – his DUI, lies, deception, breaking the laws, manipulations, arrogance, BC Rail, HST, and countless other abuses of power that we will probably not even find out about for years to come – are just more of the same.
The fact that he managed to be elected three times is a glaring testament to how undemocratic and antiquated our present electoral system is.
If people like Mr. Campbell do deserve the Order of B.C. and are touted to be a positive role model for the people and children of B.C., I have to wonder about its significance or value at all, which is very sad because there are many that actually do deserve to the honourable Order of B.C.
Wayne Clark
Maple Ridge