Maverick minister stays in cabinet, says Campbell

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell says he has no plans to kick Energy Minister Bill Bennett out of cabinet for openly criticizing his leadership style in a newspaper interview.

In an interview published by the Vancouver Sun on Tuesday, Bennett is quoted saying the Liberals aren't well thought of by the general public and it's time to try a different approach.

Bennett then accused Campbell of not consulting with his caucus before Monday's cabinet shuffle, when he moved mining from Bennett's ministry into Pat Bell's new super-sized Ministry of Forests, Mines and Lands.

But Campbell says he talked to Bennett on Sunday, he's aware of his concerns, and he's glad to have him in cabinet.

"I understand his comments and I appreciate the fact that he's willing to serve as Minister of Energy and he's going to work to make sure it works. I think that's what everyone expects," said Campbell on Tuesday.

Maverick reproach

Bennett has a reputation as a political maverick, and has been caught up in controversy in the past, but he holds the party's only seat in the Kootenays.

In February 2007, Bennett sent a profanity-laced email to a constituent who had complained about the government, which cost him his job at the time as Minister of State for Mining.

In 2009 he was accused of running an election add that offended local First Nations, and in 2010 he called environmental activists seeking to protect the Flathead Valley "eco-terrorists" in an email. 

But his comments follow similar criticism of Campbell's leadership from his former energy Minister Blair Lekstrom, who quit cabinet, and the party, this past summer over Campbell's failure to consult the public about the HST.