Gordon Campbell had a blood-alcohol reading that was nearly twice the legal limit when he was charged with drunk driving in Hawaii, a disclosure that makes it even harder for him to hang on as Premier of British Columbia.
Mr. Campbell said he learned only one hour before his news conference yesterday that his breath test registered 0.149 (149 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood) when he was pulled over last Friday in Maui for driving erratically.
The revelation that his blood-alcohol level was well above the legal limit of 0.08 is expected to increase pressure on the Premier to resign as public sympathy after his teary apology on Sunday fades.
"He was really, really pie-eyed. With this hard number 0.149 now out, I think the number for how many people think he should resign will go up," said Michael Prince, a University of Victoria professor of social policy.
Given the numbers from the test reading, reporters at yesterday's news conference cast doubt on Mr. Campbell's statement on Sunday that he drank three martinis and then two or three glasses of wine over dinner, and then switched to water before he got behind the wheel of his rented sports utility vehicle in Maui.
But Mr. Campbell stuck to his story and insisted he is accurately describing what he drank, disputing some experts who say he likely consumed a lot more booze.
"What I'm explaining to them is exactly what happened, as I recall," the tanned Premier said after a cabinet meeting.
Mr. Campbell said he didn't consume any alcohol before leaving his resort to have dinner with two friends at their Maui home. He also said he had the breath test an hour after being stopped.
However, Prof. Prince said the blood-alcohol reading will further damage the Premier and his Liberal government.
"If it was 0.09, people could have thought there could have been a margin of error in the machine. But this is so much over. What were those three martinis like? What was his judgment?" Prof. Prince said.
The Premier is fortunate that police stopped him, said Ray Marchand, manager of traffic safety at the Canada Safety Council in Ottawa. Statistics show that the likelihood of a driver being in a collision rises sharply at a blood-alcohol count of 0.15, he said.
Mr. Campbell's plight has dominated talk shows and prompted a flood of letters to B.C. newspapers. Public-opinion polls suggest that roughly half of British Columbians want Mr. Campbell to resign, but his Liberal Party would still win a comfortable majority over the New Democratic Party.
In his news conference on Sunday, the Premier said he didn't immediately call any family members to tell them about his drunk-driving charge.
"When something like this happens, what's preferable is to be able to talk face-to-face with your family," he said yesterday. "And that's what I wanted to try and do. I thought I was doing the right thing at the time.
"My wife and sons have been, I think, incredible and exceptional. They've been what you would expect -- loving and supportive."
Prof. Prince said it's unfortunate that Mrs. Campbell, who had left Maui before her husband, had to find out about the charge from the media.
Mr. Campbell met with his cabinet yesterday for the first time since being charged.
Reporters asked some cabinet ministers on their way into the meeting whether they would resign if they had been charged with drunk driving.
Energy Minister Richard Neufeld said such a question isn't pertinent for him because he hasn't had a drink in two decades. Asked why, Mr. Neufeld replied: "Why haven't I drank for 20 years? Because I'm an alcoholic."
Health Services Minister Colin Hansen said elected officials face pressure to meet a high standard of conduct, so he's now pledging that if he's had even one alcoholic drink, he won't get behind the wheel.
"The Premier has set a lousy example," Mr. Hansen said.
Mr. Campbell may have inadvertently sped up how his drunk-driving charge came to light. He said he phoned Maui police to ask them about the process for releasing the information, and was told it was unlikely that it would be made public immediately.
While police found his inquiry to be unusual, the Premier said he asked because he wanted to find out how much time he would have to inform his family in person, before a scheduled court date March 25 in Maui. But a Maui reporter got a tip on Friday that a prominent person had been charged, began working on a story and asked the Associated Press for information about Mr. Campbell.
One for the road
While driving home at 1 a.m. after a dinner party, Gordon Campbell was stopped by police and later given a breath test. Though the 200-pound man claimed to have had only three martinis and 'two or three' glasses of wine, his blood alcohol measured 0.149%
How he measured up:
Blood alcohol level
-*0.149%: Gordon Campbell's breath test result -- estimated to equal about 14 standard drinks consumed in six hours and measured two to three hours after the last drink.
-*0.105%: According to MADD, this is the standard blood alcohol level for a man weighing 200 pounds after eight standard drinks over a period of four hours.
-*0.08%: The legal limit for blood alcohol while driving.
-*0.0%: Sober.
A standard drink:
-*a bottle of beer
-*one and a half ounces of liquor
-*a five ounce glass of wine
SOURCE: MADD -- MOTHERS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVING
Brent Jang