Thursday, August 18, 2011

Attorney General Barry Penner suddenly resigns - will not run again in provincial election

Now ex-Attorney General Barry Penner outside Chilliwack courts
BC Liberal Attorney General Barry Penner has suddenly resigned and will not run in the next provincial election, increasing speculation that Premier Christy Clark will call a snap vote this fall.

Penner says he's quitting to spend more time with his young family after 15 years as an MLA for the Chilliwack area, most recently in Chilliwack-Hope riding.

"Spending more time at home this summer, and going on short hikes with my young family in recent weeks, has reminded me how much this job takes me away from home," Penner said in a statement.

"Now that I have a beautiful wife and a baby daughter, being away is a price paid not just by myself, but by those I love the most. And while I certainly have loved doing the work that comes with this job, I believe this is the right decision for me and my family."

Penner became environment minister in 2005 and attorney general last year, continuing in that role after Clark took over from ex-premier Gordon Campbell.

Penner was not a supporter of Christy Clark's bid for leadership of the BC Liberals - he remained neutral for that campaign as a member of the convention committee - but has been a mainstay in cabinet. 

Penner survived a bout with cancer in 2007.

Best wishes to Barry and his family in their after-politics lives.

Stay tuned for more.

.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Stay tuned for more"...more leaving? I hope so. They have done enough damage to our province.

Kam Lee

Anonymous said...

So I guess the replacement is either de Jong or heaven forbid Bill Bennett!

Anonymous said...

There have been many calls for inquiries, investigations and judicial reviews..No doubt the stress of the job had something to do with this decision especially as a Cancer survivor..
While each day is precious it is also so for those waiting for action from the AG's office hopeful that things will continue to move forward.

DPL said...

according to the evening news, Shirley Bond.got the nod

Carol Pickup said...

Good riddance-and the sooner we get rid of the Liberal(neo-conservative)B.C. government the better. Penner was a failure as environment minister and has been useless as attorney-general(doesn't reply to correspondence sent to him for action by the Premier!!) Carol Pickup

Anonymous said...

Shirley Bond! LOL Hell, she knows where all the bodies are buried. LOL. BC Rail... she is deep into it also. Give her the keys and take the shredder away from her.

Kam Lee

Anonymous said...

More likely Penner thought Princess Christy's recent rant over the lack of charges stemming from the Stanley Cup riot was a cry to far and he is basically telling the Premier to go muck herself.

While the police do all the investigative work and lay the foundations: it is the Crown who is responsible for the actual laying of charges and Penner is BC's top Crown lawyer.

Make no mistake - Penner was the target of Christy's juvenile jabberings.

Anonymous said...

Aaaaah!! The graciousness of Carol Pickup is truly amazing; and apparently knows no bounds. With this kind of thinking, our party should have little difficulty convincing British Columbians to cast their ballots in our favour.

Anonymous said...

This isn't really big news as the pundits and the bloggers think.

Being a Minister is demanding and takes alot of time. There were Minister resignations and announcements of not running again when the NDP was government.

It was a shock, but not in the context of parachuting out before the plane crashes as many of the bloggers believe.

Anonymous said...

Yes and at least his good friends since university Palmer and Baldry will lose one more to cheer on.Maybe one day they will have to add a little balance.

Anonymous said...

They have done enough damage to our province.

Like the NDP before them, and Social Credit before the NDP and the NDP before Social Credit Kam?

Anonymous said...

Pretty tough to take many of these bloggers serious when they are so tight with politicians Ie: Bill T and his beloved Adrian Dix etc. And for the record I am not a member of any party and have never been impressed with the Liberals. Find a new line of work Bill. You are and were an insider. Unbiased is a tough word to comprehend when many of you hacks are trying to be taken serious.

Anonymous said...

Bill is an insider, no doubt.

He'll be smiling when the NDP becomes government, and Adrian Dix becomes Premier.

Going to be tough to be complaining about government in this blog when that happens.

Bill Tieleman said...

Regarding the last 2 "Anons" - if you read this blog you would see my criticism of: John Horgan; Nycole Turmel; Carole James; Jack Layton - on specific issues where I disagree. If you don't like my views, feel free to go elsewhere but I call it as I see it. I don't expect to be head of PAB if Adrian Dix wins but if I did I'd fire everyone, restore most positions from Order In Council answering to the Premier to public service positions based on merit.

Fair warning! ;)

DPL said...

Don't take any crap from the anons who have not got the gonads to identify themselves

Anonymous said...

Something to consider when thinking about reasons for Barry Penner's resignation is the fact that he was elected in 1996 and hasn't really practised law since then. Probably a tough gig to do the work of AG with so little practical experience as a lawyer. Not criticizing him, just pointing out the obvious. I hear that he takes his job seriously and works hard. Strikes me a guy like that would feel frustrated and overwhelmed in the job and might think better to move on.

But what do I know, I'm just posting to a blog.

Anonymous said...

Just, who are the BC people supposed to take seriously? The media, the courts, the judges, the police, the Liberals, Elections BC?

Who went to bat for the people? None of the above did. Tieleman, the Zalm and the rest of the fight HST team, did work very hard for the BC people.

No thank you. I will take the bloggers, as the only truth there is...In this most corrupt province in Canada.

Penner resigned for his own reasons. There can be several of them.

Maybe one day, truth, honor, dignity and fair play, could come back to BC.

Ed Seedhouse said...

When a politician talks about spending more time with his family that generally means he is anticipating a hot job offer so he will have a lot more money to spend on his family to keep them from complaining too loudly.

Ken in Victoria said...

Let me state Mr. Penner did the right thing. However, he should state the truth. In my opinion, he is leave the disaster of Ms Clark. He smells the Tea Leaves. Will he return as a third party candidate? That third party will be # 2 and we will smell something else. The liberals are in the toilet. Quick, an election so the gentle voters can flush them away. I will now research the search for a Wine Baron or Buddy.

Anonymous said...

When a politician talks about spending more time with his family that generally means he is anticipating a hot job offer so he will have a lot more money to spend on his family to keep them from complaining too loudly

Not nessesarily. Many politicians get tired of the BS coming from within, around and outside of the legislature and a few have just gone back to the private sector without "The Big Job Offer" that blog people seem to drool over.

Anonymous said...

the Zalm and the rest of the fight HST team, did work very hard for the BC people.

Sure the Zalm did a good job of working over the Province when he was Premier. As for working hard, there were many in Social Credit that were working hard to contain the damage that The Zalm did.

Curious about some bloggers who love The Zalm now, but would have hated him immensely when he was Premier.

Anonymous said...

Don't take any crap from the anons who have not got the gonads to identify themselves


and don't take crap from those bloggers who hide behind names or initials (constructed handles or real) either.

Ken in Victoria said...

Let me see what comment I can make regarding the comments posted. I will state, I agree with their right to post their opinions. However, I do not agree with two comments that solely want to shot the messenger. Without adding substance to their comments. They simply show a Low IQ. Do they not realize they are a joke as in the liberal ship of fools. Please criticize Mr. Tielimen or Mr. VanD. But add reasons. Do not insult the other readers with a simple attack. Grow up. Show some class. You are solely adding humour to this column. AS for the other comments, I thank them and lets thank Mr. Tieliman for allowing us to comment.