Dear editor,

Re: He鈥檚 not the real Bill Bennett (B.C. Views, Nov. 24).

Tom Fletcher鈥檚 hatchet job on independent MLA Bill Bennett has no basis in reality.

I am the past president of the Kootenay East B.C. Liberal Constituency Association and have worked on all three of Bill Bennett鈥檚 successful election campaigns. Fletcher obviously didn鈥檛 bother researching the 2009 election results.

Bennett won not with a 鈥渟lim margin鈥� but with a 51-per-cent margin, higher than some candidates in the Fraser Valley, plus he defeated the leader of the B.C. Conservative Party. And before he reluctantly took this job on 10 years ago, this was a solid NDP riding.

As for 鈥減arliamentary tradition,鈥� Fletcher ought to know that tradition supports the concept that premiers are first among equals, not kings among subjects.

Bennett is in public life for all the right reasons. We ought to know. He lives in our community and is our neighbour and friend.

Bennett has always had the courage of his convictions and this latest speaking out is what we expect from him. We didn鈥檛 hire him to be a lemming.

We agree with our MLA that Premier Gordon Campbell has done many good things for B.C., but he鈥檚 stayed too long and was jeopardizing the survival of the B.C. Liberal Party.

As for Bennett鈥檚 comments about Mr. Campbell鈥檚 style of leadership, we support our MLA鈥檚 right to say publicly what he has learned to be the truth. The fact his colleagues are silent is more of a reflection on them than on Bill Bennett.

Jim Fennell,

Cranbrook