Gordon Campbell’s quest to secure a fourth term as B.C.’s premier was scuttled by a series of explosive business issues. Top among them: the monumentally mishandled introduction of the harmonized sales tax in B.C. and the leadup to the political corruption trial involving Dave Basi and Bob Virk, two former BC Liberal government ministerial aides, and the leaking of confidential government information about the sale of BC Rail.
Also tarnishing Campbell’s public profile: burgeoning government debt, increasingly fractious party infighting and louder murmurs of discontent about a leader more adept at talking than listening – a reliable indicator of someone having had too tight a grip on the levers of power for too long.
The Campbell government, however, did much to improve B.C.’s corporate tax regime and make the province a more attractive jurisdiction in which to do business. His wins and losses this year, the impact his leadership has had on the province and how his announced departure has rearranged B.C.’s political landscape qualify Gordon Campbell as BIV’s business newsmaker of 2010.
At an energy conference in Fort St. John in October, Gordon Campbell was a presence impossible to ignore.
For three days, Campbell, along with his cabinet, was bedded down in the plush Pomeroy Hotel with media, mayors, business leaders and nearly every oil and gas executive in Western Canada.
When he wasn’t cutting ribbons or making a speech, Campbell trooped up and down the hotel corridors saying “hi” and shaking hands.
If he missed an important hand he would run back into the room just to shake it.
His keynote address was a study in political savvy.
He didn’t need speaking notes. He didn’t even need a microphone to address the crowd of several hundred.
Campbell bounded onto the stage like he was on the campaign trail, and from stage left to stage right his voice boomed with a quarter-century of political expertise.
He spoke earnestly. He cracked a few jokes. He stuck to the message.
In an interview a few hours later, that message didn’t change.
“I think we’re going to find we have a decade of really, frankly, unparalleled opportunities, prosperity and growth in terms of investment and jobs for people,” Campbell told Business in Vancouver.
Two days later, a poll showed that his approval rating hit a rock bottom 9% amid an anti-HST campaign that had spread across the province like an August wildfire.
Two-and-a-half weeks later he resigned, spelling the end to a 17-year run as leader of the BC Liberal party and nearly a decade as premier.
A lot has been said of Campbell’s time in office, not all of it kind, but the province’s business community had little to say that was negative.
“Gordon Campbell’s focus on growing our economy has ensured that we will all benefit from his great leadership,” said Evan Saugstad, chairman of the Northern Development Initiative Trust (NDIT). “For B.C.’s north, the Northern Development Initiative Trust is one outstanding example of his focus and vision … he laid a great foundation for the rest of us to follow.”
Two years after Campbell was elected premier, his government used $185 million of public money to create the NDIT.
In the years since, the organization, which operates independently of government, has approved more than $98.2 million in project funding that has been leveraged to generate nearly $1 billion in investment for northern B.C.
As far as business leaders are concerned, it’s just one example of how the Campbell government used its time to make B.C. a more attractive place to invest.
“Since 2001, obviously the overall business climate has improved quite significantly in B.C. You’ll probably hear that from everybody,” said Pascal Spothelfer, president and CEO of the BC Technology Industry Association. “For the tech industry itself, the whole small business venture tax act has made a huge difference for our industry … and is a program that’s being looked at across Canada.”
Keith Sashaw, president of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association, called Campbell’s legacy “amazing.”
“It was through Gordon Campbell’s approach in terms of focusing on infrastructure projects that moved goods and services, embracing things like public-private partnership [that] brought online a lot of projects,” Sashaw said.
John Winter, president and CEO of the BC Chamber of Commerce, believes Campbell’s greatest legacy will be his focus on the economy.
“‘Open for business’ was probably a good way to describe it,” Winter said. “Under the previous government, we had some really disastrous decisions such as Windy Craggy, the decision to shut down a mine … and a few other things that were really counter to the ‘open for business’ notion.”
Even though Campbell’s message about the coming decade of prosperity came amid a time of political upheaval, Paul Landry, president and CEO of the BC Trucking Association, believes it’s a sentiment the business community will share for years to come.
Said Landry: “His legacy for us is his understanding of the relationship between investments in infrastructure and the benefits it provides to the economy and the future. … I think you’d have to go back to W.A.C. Bennett to see that kind of vision.”
February 12 – The Olympic Games begin
April 6 – Former B.C. Premier Bill Vander Zalm launches anti-HST petition
June 11 – Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Blair Lekstrom resigns over HST
June 29 – Liberals issue ‘Why HST, Why Now?’ statement to support the new tax
June 30 – Anti-HST petition delivered to Elections B.C.
July 1 – HST takes effect
August 20 – The anti-HST petition is declared valid
September 6 – Scott Nelson, one of Campbell’s early political supporters, calls on the premier to step aside
September 13 – Campbell announces HST referendum to occur on September 24, 2011
October 15 – Campbell’s approval rating drops to 9%
October 18 – BC Rail trial ends with guilty pleas from Dave Basi and Bobby Virk; Liberals admit they paid $6 million in legal fees for the two former ministerial aides in the Campbell Liberal government
October 25 – Campbell announces major cabinet shuffle
October 26 – Energy Minister Bill Bennett blasts Campbell for lack of consultation regarding shuffle
October 27 – Campbell announces a 15% income tax cut during a televised address
November 3 – Campbell resigns
November 9 – Media sources report that Carole James’ NDP leadership is in question
November 17 – Bill Bennett ousted from cabinet, calls Campbell a “bully”
November 20 – NDP hold leadership convention, James maintains her position