Premier Gordon Campbell and his buddy VANOC CEO John Furlong have done a good job of monopolizing the Olympic spotlight throughout the past few months.
If the 2010 Winter Olympics are Premier Gordon Campbell’s final hurrah, then I’d say he has done about as good a job for himself as humanly possible.
Why do I contend that? Well, as Charlie Smith correctly notes:
“He’s done a hell of a job linking himself to the Olympic torch run, even though it has usually been the mayor of the host city who grabbed the lion’s share of attention in past Olympic Games.”
And in the accompanying article, the tight public relations strategy that has been employed by the provincial government to have the Premier hoard the local exposure of the Olympic flame has been perfectly executed.
But Gordon’s pissing to mark his territory has gone far beyond the symbolic extinguishment of the flame in recent months.
Take for example this photo that appeared on the front pages of various papers last week:
It is John Furlong and Gordon Campbell unveiling the podiums that will be used throughout the Games.
Where, pray tell, is Mayor Gregor Robertson? Well, according to my sources, he was never even invited.
Similar incidents of shutting out the Mayor occurred in Greece when the Robertson traveled along with the official delegation to pick up the Olympic flame in Athens back in October.
Information from VANOC and the Premier’s office was under lock and key. They Mayor was barely made aware of the daily schedules that the flame would be adhering to as part of the hand-off ceremonies. Staffing assistance – with something like having an official photographer to record the events for the City of Vancouver – was made as difficult as possible.
All in all, the way in which the Mayor of Vancouver has been treated by both entities has been completely shabby in what I interpret as a deep sense of insecurity, particularly from the Premier.
Could Gregor usurp attention? Would media be drawn to the Mayor of the host city as opposed to a Premier that has never met an Olympic-related camera he didn’t like?
And how about Furlong? Could a potential mayoral run be fueling his desire to keep Gregor Robertson away from the proceedings?
In every Olympics that I can remember, the Mayor of the host city was the face of the games from a political/diplomatic point of view. It was never a leader associated with the state/province as has been the case in Vancouver.
Which brings me to my next speculation. On a day where the provincial government is going to be delivering a Throne Speech that will be unlikely to be full of anything but tough economic news, I think that Campbell is going to milk this Olympic attention for all that it is worth before walking off into the political sunset around June/July.
I have received word from some of Carole Taylor’s closest confidantes that confirm that straight from the former Finance Minister’s mouth, she is very interested in making a run to become Premier. She is hesitant, however, to wade into a a competition with the likes of Kevin Falcon and Rich Coleman, both of whom have political leadership organizations that have been in the works for the better part of the past five years.
But I digress…Campbell’s approach to the Olympics is indicative of a leadership style that has always been ego-driven and self-serving. That is why Carole Taylor left, and that is why Campbell is on his last legs within the BC Liberal Party.
So enjoy the “Gordon” portion of the Games while they last, Mr. Premier, because as soon as the opening ceremonies kick off the sports competitions, you will cease to be relevant to the spectacle.
Cease to be relevant at all as a lame/sitting duck Premier.
