Not so Tiny Bubbles

It isn't as though everyone else has not already weighed in: indeed, if Premier Campbell's tropical transgression has had one clearly positive effect, it has reminded east coast political commentators that the west does exist.

Of course, they're giggling at us as usual.

The facts: Premier Gordon Campbell blew 0.149 on a Breathalyzer, after failing a roadside sobriety test on Maui on January 10. By the 12th he was home in Vancouver, purging his sins before a bethel of print and broadcast confessionals, seeking forgiveness from the huddled masses for letting them down.

And the firestorm began.

Papers were filled to capacity with coverage of all the minute detail of the calamity:

• 3 martinis, 2-3 glasses of red wine (no clear comment on if he was drinking an imported B.C. wine - could help or hurt his polling in the Okanagan) • distance and 'windiness' of the Kaanapali highway - all those turns in that expensive SUV made it harder to navigate • the type of sobriety test. To be fair, it's sometimes difficult for uncoordinated sober people to find a straight line between the sides of our heads to the tips of our noses • by this week the in-depth police arrest report came out in which Premier Campbell's original breath test showed a blood alcohol limit of more than double the legal limit at 0.161, by most accounts an amount that rendered the Premier "staggering drunk." • within twenty-four hours, opponents were already able to boldly display their premier on everything from tee-shirts to coffee mugs (http://cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=cam...

Before the Premier was even able to make his press conference, provincial pundits had weighed in on Campbell's fitness to continue governance. And as usual in British Columbia, a polar divide in public opinion opened wide.

Polls varied - as they invariably do. One had support for the premier equally divided with calls for his head. Another showed calls for resignation closer to sixty percent; still another showed a strong majority wanting him to continue his governmental responsibilities. (This begs the question of how accurate polls can really be, a topic for another day).

The central problem is: will the arrest - and eventual conviction given the premier's insistence he will not contest the charge - have such a large impact that Mr. Campbell will be unable to effectively do his job?

In strictly practical terms, the premier's supporters are correct: as serious as a drinking and driving charge can be in British Columbia, by Hawaiian legal standards Mr. Campbell committed a petty misdemeanor. He will very likely serve no jail time. The misdemeanor will not carry a permanent criminal record that will prevent the premier from traveling to - and conducting business in - the United States. At worst, his Hawaiian driving suspension could cause a driving suspension in B.C.

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