Former B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell will keep his membership in the Order of B.C. Now, let’s consider the matter settled.
The only thing wrong with his appointment in the first place was timing.
If his nominators had waited a couple of years—for the HST tornado to settle, for him to get used to retirement, for the BC Liberals to self-destruct, whatever—I doubt there would have been the furor over this honour.
I also believe he deserves the award.
For every person who punished him by voting down the HST, there were almost as many who voted to keep it.
There were enough people to keep him in provincial office for a decade, as leader of the Opposition for eight years and in the mayor’s seat in Vancouver for seven.
He brought change to Vancouver, however you like it. He brought First Nations issues to the forefront. He brought us the Olympics.
What a pity that the campaign to get him un-nominated put 13 other worthy Order of B.C. recipients on the backburner.
Can you name just one other? I couldn’t, I had to look them up. And that’s the real shame of it all.
Susan Quinn is the Alberni Valley News editor.
editor@albernivalleynews.com