What do you do with a drunken premier

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Asher
Why would he call himself a Liberal if he was a conservative?

That's a long, and entertaining story.

The shorter version is the province was run for years by the Social Credit are the right wing party, but they fall into disarray. Then during an election, Gordon Wilson, leader of the tiny Liberal party, comes out of nowhere, captures the voters attention and the Liberals go from 0 seats to about a dozen seats.

Meanwhile Gordon Campbell is looking for a party to lead. He doesn't want to associate with the Social Credits (who the voters hate), he doesn't want to use the name Conservative (because of its association with Mulroney), the provincial Reform Party is controlled by nutcases as is always the case, so he and some other ex-Socreds decide to take over the Liberal Party.

Meanwhile Wilson has lost his glow after admitting to having an affair with a married Liberal MLA who ditches her children to move in with him. So the new Liberal members throw out the old leader and Gordan Campbell is elected to head the party.

Wilson and his lover sulk off and form their own party. Sometime later, Wilson becomes a minister in the NDP government, IIRC.

When Campbell finally gets elected premier, he implements extremely un-Liberal policies. He has started to fire a third of the civil servants. He gives massive tax breaks while putting the province further into debt. And he cancels treaty negotiations with natives. He's as right-wing as you can get.

[Asher]

When Campbell finally gets elected premier, he implements extremely un-Liberal policies. He has started to fire a third of the civil servants. He gives massive tax breaks while putting the province further into debt. And he cancels treaty negotiations with natives. He's as right-wing as you can get.

This is nonsense.

If he was as right wing as you could get he would have fired all of the civil servants.

And again, you keep conveniently forget to mention that all of these big tax breaks and civil servant layoffs came during a period of transition after a SOCIALIST government.

A centrist Liberal could be seen as very right wing by people who don't want to look very hard just because he's restoring back to the center when the previous party were left-wing nutjobs who ran the province into the ground several times over.

[cia]

Nice to know Canadian politics is as screwed up as Ameriican politics. But I knew that because I work with a Canadian and read the news.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Asher

This is nonsense.

If he was as right wing as you could get he would have fired all of the civil servants.

Once again Asher, you don't know what you are talking about. The B.C. Liberals are just conservatives by another name. Even the right wingers in BC say this.
Everyone knows that the Liberal Party of BC has no connection with the federal Liberal Party or any other provincial Liberal party.

[Asher]

Even the right wingers in BC say this.

Quotes.

Everyone knows that the Liberal Party of BC has no connection with the federal Liberal Party or any other provincial Liberal party.

Never implied otherwise.
It's just that, with talk again of them implementing universal daycare I have to wonder what kind of screwed up conservatives are talking of establishing universal daycare...

And I think you still have a major problem with figuring out what's left and right wing.

What's right wing to you is centrist to normal people.

Hell, Alberta is closer to the center when using American standards than the federal Liberals by quite a bit.

The BC Liberals are centrist. They're right wing to left wingers, because most of them can't seem to figure out what "relative" is...

Yes, he used Alberta as his shining example of government done right (and who wouldn't?? ) but he's still not all the way there.

[Asher]

BTW, Tingkai, if the BC Liberals are so conservative...