Would you vote for former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell as a federal MP candidate?
That’s the question pollsters posed to residents of the new Vancouver-Granville riding this month, less than five years after Campbell resigned from politics amid a dismal popularity rating.
“When I heard the name Gordon Campbell, I fell off my chair. I was really surprised,” said Michael Groberman, who received a call at home on Jan. 7.
“Like many British Columbians, I saw his departure from office as a departure in shame and failure.”
Campbell was polling at just nine per cent support when he stepped down in 2010, the lowest popularly pollsters had seen in four decades for any Canadian politician.
The decline to single-digits was largely chalked up to the controversial harmonized sales tax introduced under Campbell’s watch. He departed for a post as Canada’s High Commissioner in the United Kingdom, a diplomatic position he still holds.
Groberman said the pollsters who phoned him this month also asked about Liberal Jody Wilson-Raybould, and some general questions about how he might vote in the next election.
The survey was conducted by NRG Research Group, but the company wouldn’t say who commissioned it.
Kimberly Speers, a political scientist from the University of Victoria, said it’s not unusual for parties or candidates themselves to test the water before making a decision.
“If I was in Campbell’s position or if I was in the Conservative Party’s position, I would do some polling. It’s expensive to run,” Speers said.
No one at Campbell’s U.K. office or the Conservative Party of Canada has said anything publicly about the possibility of Campbell returning to politics, and CTV News was unable to reach them Thursday.
Though Groberman called the idea “shocking and arrogant,” not everyone in the Vancouver-Granville riding was so opposed.
“It’s politics, no one’s perfect,” said Joseph Ho. “I’d give him another chance.”
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Bhinder Sajan
