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It’s interesting sitting here in Toronto, at York University, listening to the political turmoil in British Columbia.  Listening to Gordon Campbell talking about his political past, his political present… halloween costumes, and so forth, all discussing his sudden, ‘surprise’ announcement resigning his post as Premier of the Province.

It’s interesting because you can hear the message being constructed by Campbell and the Liberals — he’s said it at least three or four times so far this press conference, which tends to indicate a manufactured message that’s being pushed on us — he resigned because “it’s about one person and not about the province.”

Attention everyone who cares about the future of people who live in British Columbia: it is not just “too much focus on one person and not enough focus on what’s best for British Columbia.”

Gordon Campbell certainly is just one person.  But he’s one person who led a party of MLAs who served as the government in British Columbia.  If it were just about one person — really — then we’d only care about Campbell’s vote in the legislature.

But it’s not “too much focus on one person.”

It’s about the entire government.  All of the BC Liberals voted in favour of each and every regressive, neoliberal, destructive policy that the government enacted.

So when you hear the message from Gordon Campbell today — that he resigned because the public was putting “too much focus on one person and not enough focus on what’s best for British Columbia” — remember that each and every one of the BC Liberal MLAs voted in favour of each and every policy that Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals foisted upon the people of British Columbia.

The defunding of arts groups.

The imposition of the HST.

The gutting of university funding.

De-listing medications from medicare.

Hospital user fees.

More than 100% increases in tuition fees.

And on.

And on.

And on.

These aren’t decisions that were taken by one person.  Each of the BC Liberal MLAs voted in favour of them.

Campbell resigned because he knew the public was angry.  And not just at him.

The challenge for everyone in British Columbia today is to make it clear that it wasn’t just one person that made these decisions — technically, formally, theoretically, BC is a representative democracy — and it was each and every one of those representatives that voted in favour of the BC Liberal shock doctrine in BC over the past ten years.

Not too much focus on one person.

We — all of us who care about the people in BC — need to remember that we can work together to make BC a better place.  Changing figureheads won’t change the program.

Gordon Campbell resigned because he was wrong.  And it’s not just about one person.  It’s about all of the BC Liberal MLAs.  They should all resign.

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kevin harding

Kevin is a cooperator, an always-student, and passionate about the arts. As a principal of the Incipe Cooperative, Kevin works with colleagues in a workers' co-op offering services for advocacy and nonprofit organizations. He's passionate about education policy, having been through twenty some-odd years of schooling and still thinking it changes the world. He also thinks that art changes the world, and he works with Art for Impact to celebrate art's power for social change. A Vancouver born and raised resident who is exiled from Toronto, he constantly loses umbrellas and probably rants too much.

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