British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell responded to energy minister Blair Lekstrom's resignation by shuffling the cabinet and reasserting his government's support for the harmonized sales tax.
Lekstrom quit the cabinet and the Liberal caucus this morning saying his party is clearly at odds with his consituents' opinion on the HST and his first job is to represent his constituents. He will remain an MLA and sit as an independent representing Peace River South.
"I respect his position. I understand it but....we clearly disagree," Campbell told reporters in Victoria.
The premier pointed out that cabinet and caucus were consulted before the government brought in the HST and there was agreement to take the measure, which combines the provincial sales tax with the federal GST. "We had to do what was right, not what was popular," he said.
Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett replaces Lekstrom as the minister of energy, mines and petroleum resources. Westside-Kelowna MLA Ben Stewart takes over community and rural development and Vancouver-False Creek MLA Mary McNeil moves into the citizens' services ministry.
McNeil's responsibilities as minister of state for the Olympics and ActNow B.C. will shift to the ministry of healthy living and sport.
With files from the Canadian Press.
Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.
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sunshine coast girl
1 year ago
don't get too comfortable in your new position Bill..
You're on the recall list.
Skywalker
1 year ago
"We had to do what was right..."
Yes Gordon, you had to lie to get elected? Is that part of "...had to do what is right." At least Lekstrom has a conscience even if it is jogged by a threat of recall.
G West
1 year ago
Do what is right Gordon
Begone.
tricia58
1 year ago
Hopefully just the start
OK I hope other LIberals are listening as well. Do the right thing and save us from doing a recall. Many ridings were won by narrow margins and a recall is possible.
Ed Seedhouse
1 year ago
Gord my boy, it's over.
Gord my boy, it's over. It's done.
It is the last rock of the seventh end and the opposing skip has an open hit for four. You are already down eight to one.
Time to extend the old hand for a shake...
Van Isle
1 year ago
Is Gordo shufflening the
Is Gordo shufflening the deck chairs on a sinking ship?
seth
1 year ago
HALF CENT A KWH
Lekstrom's BC Hydro was selling Pirate Power's electricity today on the columbia grid for - wait for this - less than a HALF CENT A KWH peak. Off peak he'd be paying the grid to take.
Remember he is buying the power at 12.6 cents a kwh.
I'd suggest that is the real reason he resigned.
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/energyprices.html
Skywalker
1 year ago
Gordo can't retract the HST.
He has a cash grab clouded in a bit of mystery. His HST can always be justified, albeit lamely, with some rhetoric about how it is good for investors. These are the folks who don't vote in BC but donate handsomely. If he retracts the HST, he is in a huge debt whole with no means of getting out. He would have top admit that he, the great Gordo, could not run a peanut stand. He would have to admit that his Golden Era never happened. His over inflated ego will not let him.
Finally he is getting just what he deserves. I would be interested in the next interview with Blai Lekstrom now that he is no longer required to defend the indefensible.
telus employee
1 year ago
Shallow Pool Indeed
The BC Liberals must have a shallow pool of talent if they are forced to promote the bumbling Bill Bennett to a Minister portfolio.
sunshine coast girl
1 year ago
Yeah, we don't really want to do recall...
it takes a lot of energy. It would be much easier if you Lib MLAs would just resign. But, we're warning you. If you don't do the right thing, we will recall and we will win, just like with the Petition! Fair warning folks.
Gary
1 year ago
Too Late Blair
You should have got a conscience in the beginning. Your (former) people knew there was a backlash but you all wanted to be lapdogs to Campbell. In his arrogance he fooled you into voting for this money shift. Then when he decided to use closure to push it through, when you saw the groundswell of resistance you still voted for it.
I'd like to remind you that your constituents are not as stupid as you appear to think.What they are is fed up.
I personally don't care how many MLA's resign. Even if they sit across the floor they still may vote for anything your micro manager does.I personally see this as a stall tactic. So Blair my friend as others have said. Too little too late.There will be a recall and the people will not tolerate further delays. The rest of the Liberals better get Gordo to change his mind. NOW.
John Carten
1 year ago
Gordon Campbell's Fitness For Public Office
CREDIBLE INFORMATION WANTED
On May 17, 2010, I asked Conflict of Interest Commissioner, Paul Fraser, to investigate the allegations and rumours that Premier Gordon Campbell and his Deputy Chief Of Staff, Lara Dauphinee, have been in a romantic relationship which, in my opinion, would constitute a prima facie violation of the Members Conflict of Interest Act.
Mr. Fraser replied on May 26, 2010, by declining to conduct an inquiry unless I could provide him with some "credible information" more than bare allegations and rumours.
Accordingly, I request that any readers of The Tyee who may have such information and who wish to see such an inquiry commenced send their information to Conflict of Interest Commissioner, Paul Fraser, and refer to my complaint dated May 17, 2010.
The correspondence with Mr. Fraser is set out at The Water War Crimes Web Site
http://www.waterwarcrimes.com
jim1966
1 year ago
Finally Some Truth In This Mess
He has done the right thing. He resigned. Good for you Blair, I admire your backbone. It probably was not an easy choice to make. Regretfully this is not the case with the leader or the finance minister, too bad for them I guess. It is clear now that this provincial government is in big trouble. I think that in a very big way we as a society have put the lid on the BC Liberals, this is after all just the beginning, so whose next?. When the truth about this issue finally was revealed I was amazed to see my fellow citizens come back to life, politically so to speak. That is truly the amazing part of this entire story. Congrats to us on that one!, I guess that in life we as human beings must have some challenges to grow and develop. Other than learning that we were lied to etc, what have we a British Columbians really learned?. The answers vary but to me it is clear. It's our responsibility to ensure that our democracy is paramount to any other issue that is going on within our borders. The BC Liberals are only part of the bigger picture, after all Ottawa has a major hand in intiating this deal as well. In essence Gord and the gang challenged that basic principle and lost. I think that after Gord is recalled he may want to consider the following (of which we will never pay for) a) anger management, b)grief counseling, and finally a self help support group that will teach Gord about values.
cheers
jim1966
crankypants
1 year ago
Things
Things are not always as they seem. Although Leckstrom has quit cabinet and the Liberal caucus, he has retained his membership in the BC Liberal party. He stated this on the radio this afternoon.
I believe that he is just trying to save his hide from a recall campaign and nothing more.
As a matter of fact, knowing that the BC Liberal party is known for being less than honest about how they conduct business, one could even make the case that this is really one big ruse concocted by party hierarchy to take the newscycle away from all the negative press they have been getting lately. This party has made deception into an art form and there is no reason to believe they will ever get a conscience, at least not with Gordo at the helm.
This is no time to drop our guard and show leniency because we know from past experience that the word leniency is not in the BC Liberal party's vocabulary.