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==Campbell's first term== |
==Campbell's first term== |
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===Tax Reductions=== |
===Tax Reductions=== |
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In 2001, Campbell campaigned on a promise to significantly reduce income taxes to stimulate the economy. A day after taking office, Campbell reduced personal [[income tax]] for all taxpayers by 25 per cent.<ref>http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/archive/efu/pdf/update_factsheet.pdf</ref> Cuts were applied to every [[tax bracket]]. The government also introduced reductions in the corporate income tax, and eliminated the Corporation Capital Tax. |
In 2001, Campbell campaigned on a promise to significantly reduce income taxes to stimulate the economy. A day after taking office, Campbell reduced personal [[income tax]] for all taxpayers by 25 per cent.<ref>http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/archive/efu/pdf/update_factsheet.pdf</ref> Cuts were applied to every [[tax bracket]]. The government also introduced reductions in the corporate income tax, and eliminated the Corporation Capital Tax.<!--meaningless without $$ evaluation in cost to the public treasury/savings to the public--> |
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===Austerity=== |
===Austerity=== |
Revision as of 16:16, 21 March 2009
Gordon Muir Campbell | |
---|---|
34th Premier of British Columbia | |
Assumed office June 5, 2001 | |
Preceded by | Ujjal Dosanjh |
MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey | |
Assumed office 1996 | |
Preceded by | Darlene Marzari |
Mayor of Vancouver | |
In office 1986–1993 | |
Preceded by | Michael Harcourt |
Succeeded by | Philip Owen |
Personal details | |
Born | Vancouver, British Columbia | January 12, 1948
Nationality | Canadian |
Political party | Non-Partisan Association (municipal) BC Liberal Party (provincial) |
Spouse | Nancy Campbell |
Children | Nicholas Campbell, Geoffrey Campbell |
Occupation | Teacher, Politician |
Website | Office of the Premier |
Gordon Muir Campbell, MLA (born January 12, 1948 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is the 34th Premier of British Columbia. He is the leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party, which holds a majority in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.
Early life
Campbell's father Charles was a doctor and an assistant dean of medicine at The University of British Columbia.[1] His mother Peg was a kindergarten assistant at University Hill.[2] and they had four children. He grew up in West Point Grey and went to University Hill Elementary School, and University Hill Secondary School[2][1]where he was student council president and his friend wrote in his year book that after university, Campbell wanted to “return to Canada and be Prime Minister.”[1] After completing high school, Campbell worked as a labourer in Topley Landing, a small town in Northern BC, to earn money for University.[1] While there he was accepted by Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and had received a scholarship and job offer so he could afford fees.[1]
After high school, he enrolled at Dartmouth College, an Ivy League institution in New Hampshire. He worked in the dining hall and then became assistant to the college secretary to help pay his way through university.[1] Campbell initially intended to study medicine but was inspired by three English professors and shifted his focus to English and urban management, earning a BA degree in English.[1] He received an Urban Studies Fellowship at Dartmouth in 1969. (The fellowship paid $1,500 to students who worked in city and metropolitan government).[1] Campbell was able to work in Vancouver’s city government.[1] At that time Campbell met Art Phillips, a city councilor and future mayor of Vancouver.[1]
Also that summer, Campbell met Nancy Chipperfield.[3] After graduating from university, Campbell and Chipperfield were married in New Westminster on July 4, 1970.[1]They went to Nigeria to teach under the Canadian University Service Overseas program.[3]While there, Campbell coached basketball and track and field teams that won state championships.[3] Campbell also launched his first of many literacy initiatives in Nigeria by helping to rebuild his school library.[3] Campbell applied for and was accepted to Stanford to pursue a master’s degree in education, but the couple instead returned to Vancouver where Campbell entered law school at UBC and Nancy completed her education degree.[1] Campbell's law education was short lived as he soon returned to the City of Vancouver to work for Art Phillips on his mayoralty campaign. When Phillips was elected in 1972, Campbell became his executive assistant, a job he held until 1976.[2]
When he left the Mayor’s Office, at 28 years old, Campbell went to work for Marathon Realty as a project manager.[1] In 1976 Geoffrey, the Campbells' first child was born. In 1978, Campbell bought an upscale Point Grey house which was the Campbell home for the next 26 years.[1] From 1975 to 1978 he was actively pursuing his MBA through Simon Fraser University’s executive MBA program, attending night classes twice weekly at the on Burnby Mountain campus. In 1979, Nancy Campbell gave birth to their second child, Nicholas.[1]
In 1981, Campbell left Marathon Realty and started his own business, Citycore Development Corporation, and also bought a new house for his growing family. Despite the economic slowdown that hit Canada that year, Campbell's corporation successfull and cpnstructed several buildings in Vancouver.[4]
After a two year absence from civic political activities, Campbell became involved in the mayoralty campaign of May Brown and was an active supporter of the Downtown Stadium for Vancouver Committee. Though May Brown was unsuccessful, Campbell and the committee continued promoting the stadium to revitalize False Creek which at the time was polluted industrial land.[1] Campbell and the committee were eventually successful, and Premier Bill Bennett announced the Downtown Stadium project in 1980 which was the forerunner of Expo 86, the Vancouver Convention Centre and Skytrain. In 1982, the BC Social Credit government broke ground on BC Place Stadium and it opened in 1983.
Vancouver councillor and mayor
Campbell was elected to the Vancouver city council in 1984, and from 1986 to 1993, he served as the mayor of Vancouver for three successive terms. Most notable events in civic politics during that period were the development of the Expo Lands, the re-development of Yaletown, and the foundation of the Coal Harbour residential area. Campbell's most significant public work during his term was the construction of the new Vancouver Public Library. He also served as chair of the Greater Vancouver Regional District and president of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities.
BC Liberal leader
Campbell became leader of the BC Liberal Party in 1993, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly next year in a Vancouver-Quilchena by-election. He has represented the Vancouver-Point Grey riding since 1996. He lost the 1996 BC provincial election despite winning more votes, and stayed on as Leader of the Opposition under New Democratic Party Premiers Glen Clark, Dan Miller and Ujjal Dosanjh.
Clark's government was beset by controversy, difficult economic and fiscal conditions and the scandals known as the Fast Ferry Scandal and Casinogate. After the NDP's approval rating dropped to historic lows, in the BC election of 2001 Campbell's Liberals defeated them, taking 77 of 79 seats in the legislature. This was the largest majority of seats, and the second-largest majority of the popular vote in BC history. Campbell, in the aftermath, refused to recognize a Leader of the Opposition, maintaining that the NDP were no longer an official party, having less than four seats in the House, although the position of Leader of the Opposition is a constitutional requirement.
Campbell's first term
Tax Reductions
In 2001, Campbell campaigned on a promise to significantly reduce income taxes to stimulate the economy. A day after taking office, Campbell reduced personal income tax for all taxpayers by 25 per cent.[5] Cuts were applied to every tax bracket. The government also introduced reductions in the corporate income tax, and eliminated the Corporation Capital Tax.
Austerity
To finance these tax cuts and to balance the provincial budget, Campbell's first term was also noted for fiscal austerity. This included major reductions in welfare rolls (by making it harder to qualify for assistance) and some social services, deregulation, the sale of some government assets (in particular the ferries built by the previous government during the Fast Ferry Scandal, which were sold off for a tiny fraction of their market value - $19.4 million ($6.5 million/vessel) to the Washington Marine Group. Controversy erupted when it was revealed that the same company had offered $60 million for the vessels prior to the auction.), and the privatization of BC Rail (which was made, despite contrary campaign promises). Campbell also reduced the size of the civil service, and closed some government agent and welfare offices in some communities. He also closed the BC Human Rights Commission and replaced it with the BC Human Rights Tribunal.[6]
Another notable aspect of Campbell's first administration was the prevalent labour strife in the public sector. To reduce program costs, the government embarked on a policy to hold most public sector unions to "zero, zero and zero" percent wage increases over three years. In addition, his government stripped contractual conditions from teachers' collective agreements (won over years of good-faith negotiations with previous governments), such as class size limitations; similar unilateral changes to health-care workers' contracts have subsequently been ruled unconstitutional and illegal by the Supreme Court of Canada.[7] This Campbell initiative was bill 29, the Health and Social Services Delivery Improvement Act and imposed a contract on over 40,000 union workers.[8] Although there were some labour unions that took job action over these contract positions, BC had the fewest number of worker-days lost due to strikes and lockouts in 30 years.[9]
Minimum Wage
On November 1, 2001, the Campbell BC Liberals increased the minimum wage to $8.00 per hour from $7.60, while at the same time authority was given so "new entrants" into the labour force could be paid $6 per hour: 25% lower than the existing minimum wage.[10]
Education
The Campbell government passed legislation in August 2001 declaring education as an “essential service” and therefore making it illegal for teachers to strike. This action was presented as fulfilling a platform plank from the previous election campaign.[11]
The government embarked upon the largest expansion of BC's post-secondary education system since the foundation of Simon Fraser University in 1965. In 2004, the government announced that 25,000 new post-secondary places would be established between 2004 and 2010.[12]
The Campbell government also lifted the six-year long tuition fee freeze that was placed on the BC universities and colleges by the previous NDP government. Since then, tuition fees have risen by an average of 88% and are now higher than Canadian averages.[13] In 2005 a tuition limit policy was put in place capping increases at the rate of inflation.[14]
Environment
Campbell made significant changes including a new Environmental Assessment Legislation, as well as new aquaculture policies. In November 2002, Campbell's government passed the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) which reversed many of the regulations previously introduced by the former NDP government.
Health care
The Campbell government drew up legislation that required health authorities to contract out positions when savings could be predicted. This led to the privatization of many healthcare jobs.[15][16][17] These changes met resistance from many health care workers and resulted in a strike by some of them. This strike was ended by court order and amendments by the government on parts of the legislation.
The Campbell government increased health funding by $3-billion during their first term in office to help meet the demand at hand and to increase wages for some health professionals.[18]
During their first term in office, the Campbell government increased the number of new nurse training spaces by 2,500, an increase of 62%.[19] At the same time, they nearly doubled the doctors in training, and opened new medical training facilities in Victoria and Prince George.[20]
While the increase in doctors in training has been seen as a positive, the BC Medical Association has argued more spaces still need to be opened.[21]
Wage rates for doctors and nurses also increased in the Campbell government’s first term. Nurses received a 23.5% raise[22] while doctors received a 20.6% raise.[23] The government argued these wage increases were needed to attract and retain skilled professionals in the health care system.
First Nations
During the 2001 election, the BC Liberals also campaigned on a promise to hold a consultative referendum on First Nation treaty rights. In the spring of 2002, the government held the referendum.[24]
The referendum, led by Attorney General Geoff Plant, proposed eight questions that voters were asked to either support or oppose. Critics claimed the phrasing was flawed or biased toward a predetermined response. While some critics, especially First Nations and religious groups, called for a boycott of the referendum, by the May 15 deadline almost 800,000 British Columbians had cast their ballots. About one third of ballots were returned, significantly less than the usual turnout in provincial general elections, but considerably more than predicted by opponents.[citation needed] Critics called for a boycott of the referendum and First Nations groups collected as many ballots as possible so that they might be destroyed publicly. The boycott was backed by the Anglican Church, the United Church, the Presbytery of New Westminster, the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Canadian Muslim Federation, the BC Federation of Labour, the Council of Senior Citizens and the David Suzuki Foundation.
The ballots that were returned showed enthusiastic support, with over 80 per cent of participating voters agreeing to all eight proposed principles. The referendum cost about $9 million.
After the conclusion of the treaty referendum, many treaty negotiations resumed[citation needed].
In the lead-up to the 2005 election, Campbell discussed opening up a New Relationship with Aboriginal People.[25] This has become the foundation for agreements in principle that were made during the second term.[citation needed]
Conviction for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol
In January 2003, Campbell was arrested and pled no contest for driving under the influence of alcohol while vacationing in Hawaii. According to court records Campbell's blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit. As is customary in the United States, Campbell's mugshot was provided to the media by Hawaiian police. The image has proved to be a lasting personal embarrassment, frequently used by detractors and opponents. Campbell was fined $913 (US) and the court ordered him to take part in a substance abuse program, and to be assessed for alcoholism. [26]
A national anti-drinking and driving group, Mothers Against Drunk Driving called for Gordon Campbell to resign.[27]
2010 Olympics
British Columbia won the right to host the 2010 Winter Olympics on July 2nd, 2003. This was a joint Winter Olympics bid by Vancouver and the ski resort of Whistler.[28]
Campbell, a main proponent of the bid to get the games, attended the final presentations in Prague, Czech Republic and made an impassioned plea for the games to come back to Canada for the first time since it was held in Calgary in 1988. He also went to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, attending the Games' competitions, as well as the closing ceremonies.
On August 8, 2008, he attended the Opening Ceremonies for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He went to Beijing to promote the province of British Columbia at the 2008 Summer Olympics.[29]
Electoral reform
Prior to the 2001 election, Campbell made political reform and electoral reform a campaign promise. This was first reflected in the 1996 provincial election where Campbell’s BC Liberals received more votes than their rivals the BC NDP (42% vs. 39% of the popular vote), but the non-proportional nature of the electoral system resulted in the NDP forming government (39 seats vs. 33 seats).[30] The 2001 election again reflected this issue as the BC Liberal party received 57% percent of the popular vote, but won 97% of the seats.[31]
The new Campbell administration introduced fixed-term election dates for BC, departing from the standard British parliamentary procedure that left election dates at the discretion of the party in power. Campbell also founded a first in Canada, the Citizens' Assembly composed of randomly-selected British Columbians from around the province. The Assembly advised adopting the Single Transferable Vote system in future elections. Whether or not to adopt BC-STV was put to a province-wide referendum; the 57.7% in favour fell slightly short of the 60 percent the government had established as the requirement to pass.[32]
2005 election
Campbell campaigned on the slogan "Our Plan is Working", alluding to BC's recovered economic conditions and lower unemployment. In the May 17, 2005, election, Campbell and the BC Liberals won a second majority government, with a reduced number of seats.
Campbell's second term
The economy
430,000 new jobs have been created in B.C. since December 2001,[33] the best job creation record in Canada. In 2007, the economy created 70,800 more jobs, almost all full time positions.[34] By Spring 2007, unemployment had fallen to 4.0% -- the lowest rate in 30 years. However, 40,300 jobs were lost in 2008, mostly in December (35,100), and unemployment rates sit at 6.1% as of January 2009.[35]
2010 Olympics projects begin
After Campbell's re-election, major construction work for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games got underway. This includes venue construction, the Olympic Village, and a significant road construction program on the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Whistler. There is mounting concern over cost overruns on major construction projects as the cost of labour and raw materials rise beyond initial projections.
Labour relations
In order to minimize the effect labour disputes could have on the 2010 Olympic games, the Campbell government offered bonuses of between $3,500 and $4,000 per employee if contracts were signed before March 31, 2006 (June 30, 2006 in the case of the BCTF) for contracts that would expire after the games. The strategy succeeded as virtually all public sector contracts have now been extended to after the 2009 election and 2010 Olympics. This was the first time a provincial government and the BCTF reached a negotiated collective agreement since the government created the current BCTF/British Columbia Public School Employer's Association (BCPSEA) bargaining system, and province-wide negotiations were put in place in 1994.[36]
In June 2007 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that parts of health care labour legislation passed in 2002 were unconstitutional. The Court instructed the government to reconsider the legislation and gave it one year to make the necessary changes.
Health care
The Campbell government launched the Conversation on Health, a province-wide consultation with British Columbians on their health care to lay the groundwork for improvements to the principles of the Canada Health Act that will be presented in the Fall of 2007.[37]
Education
On October 7, 2005, fed-up with Campbell's inability or unwillingness to engage in good-faith negotiations with the BC Teachers Federation, and following the successive imposition of contracts on BC teachers, British Columbia's teachers began an indefinite walk-out. Campbell having made striking illegal for teachers, educators referred to this as an act of civil disobedience. Despite fines and contempt charges, the teachers' walk-out last two weeks, and threatened to culminate in a general strike across the province.
Faced with the threat of a general strike and growing public support for teachers,[38] the Campbell government finally agreed to partial mediation by Vince Ready. Ready's recommendations included money allocated to alleviate the stresses placed on schools by Campbell's removal of class size and composition limitations.[39] On October 23, 2005, it was announced teachers had agreed to return to work in light of the Ready recommendations.
First Nations
The Campbell government has taken steps to resolve a number of First Nations issues in their second term. Campbell has initialed final agreements in principle with the Tsawwassen [40], Maa-Nulth [41], and Lheidli T’enneh First Nations [42].
There have been opponents that have come out against these agreements as well, mostly with respect to the Tsawwassen agreement’s proposition to take a parcel of land out of the Agricultural Land Reserve [43].
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Bula, Frances (April 28, 2001), The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver,BC, p. D3
{{citation}}
: Missing or empty|title=
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ a b c Wood, Chris (1999), Macleans, vol. 112, no. 18 http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0011952
{{citation}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ a b c d "Gordon Campbell", Maple Leaf Web
- ^ Lee, Jeff (April 16, 2005), "For the premier, it's all about change", The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver,BC, p. C3
{{citation}}
: Unknown parameter|month=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/archive/efu/pdf/update_factsheet.pdf
- ^ http://www.bchrt.bc.ca/
- ^ http://www.nupge.ca/news_2008/n10ja08a.htm
- ^ http://www.leg.bc.ca/37th2nd/3rd_read/gov29-3.htm
- ^ http://qp.gov.bc.ca/37th6th/votes/v050208.htm
- ^ Work Rights - Minimum Wage - British Columbia
- ^ http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/archive/2001-2005/2002SDL0023-000659.htm
- ^ http://www.gov.bc.ca/bvprd/bc/content.do?brwId=%402Jk7M%7C0YQtuW&navId=NAV_ID_province&crumb=B.C.+Home&crumburl=%2Fhome.do
- ^ http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/050901/d050901a.htm
- ^ http://www.aved.gov.bc.ca/tuition/tuition_policy.htm
- ^ http://www.vancourier.com/issues03/094203/news/094203nn1.html
- ^ http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-15195675_ITM
- ^ http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=225254991&sid=5&Fmt=3&clientId=5176&RQT=309&VName=PQD
- ^ http://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2005/default.htm
- ^ http://www.northernhealth.ca/News_Events/Media_Centre_and_News/20060511UNBCnursinggrads.asp
- ^ http://www.aved.gov.bc.ca/medicalexpansion
- ^ http://www.bcma.org/public/Negotiations_Information/PhysiciansFactSheet.htm
- ^ http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/archive/2001-2005/2002SDL0024-000665.htm
- ^ http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/archive/2001-2005/2002HSER0033-000455.htm
- ^ "B.C. treaty referendum" - CBC, July 2, 2002
- ^ http://www.gov.bc.ca/arr/newrelationship/default.html
- ^ B.C. premier fined for drunk driving
- ^ B.C. premier should quit over drunk driving charge: MADD
- ^ http://www.vec.ca/english/4/2010-winter-olympics.cfm
- ^ http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2008OTP0201-001210.htm
- ^ http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/sov96/polpart.htm
- ^ http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/sov01/polpart.htm
- ^ Preliminary Referendum Results, Elections BC.
- ^ http://www.gov.bc.ca/keyinitiatives/economic_indicators.html
- ^ http://www.gov.bc.ca/keyinitiatives/economic_indicators.html
- ^ http://www.statcan.ca/english/Subjects/Labour/LFS/lfs-en.htm
- ^ http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2006FIN0194-000897.htm
- ^ http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2006OTP0140-001167.htm
- ^ http://www.straight.com/article/teachers-winning-pr-battle
- ^ http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/10/23/teachers-sunday051023.html
- ^ Tsawwassen news release
- ^ Maa-Nulth news release
- ^ Lheidli T'enneh news release
- ^ Abbynews.com