Gordon Campbell is the current Premier of British Columbia. He is a member of the BC Liberal Party, which holds a majority in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.
A major change of his administration is that he introduced fixed-term elections for BC, departing from the standard British parliamentary procedure, so that governments fall on schedule, and parties know when the election is, as in the USA. The next election slated for BC is in May 2005, exactly four years after the last one in May 2001.
On Thursday January 9th, 2003, Campbell was caught by police in Maui, Hawaii speeding while under the influence of alcohol. He later apologized to the people of Maui and British Columbia, and publicly swore off alcohol. His father was an alcoholic who committed suicide when Gordon was 13 years old.
Campbell has come under attack for not resigning his position due to the fact that he established a rule that any cabinet minister under criminal investigation must resign. Mothers Against Drunk Driving the opposition BC New Democratic Party under its leader Joy McPhail, and the Green Party of British Columbia under Adrianne Carr, all called on him to do so but supporters of Campbell contend that he is not, nor never has been a heavy drinker. Controversy and a media frenzy developed over the matter and public protests on the issue soon followed (complete with T-shirts bearing Campbell's mug shots). Campbell is the first premier in Canadian history to be arrested while in office.