It was one of the top moments of Gordon Campbell's premiership, and more than one person has pondered since: Why didn't he choose to quit on a high note after the wildly successfully 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver?

Turns out, he almost did.

"I actually seriously considered leaving after the Olympics and Paralympics," Campbell said. "It would have felt great to do that.

"But it goes back to your sense of obligation to the people you are with. I was the premier when we decided to go forward with the HST [harmonized sales tax] and I think it was the right choice to make. I'd still make that choice. But I wanted to stay with our guys and make sure they knew I was with them."

Campbell hung on as B.C.'s 34th premier for another eight months before a brewing caucus revolt, dismal public popularity, unrelenting anger over the HST and lacklustre response to a promised income tax cut led him to announce his resignation Nov. 3.

It cut short the 62-year-old's third term in office, yet he remains in rarefied company as one of only four people in the province's history to win three consecutive majority governments.

He'll be replaced as leader and premier by the Liberal party Feb. 26.

With roughly a week left on the job, Campbell sat down with the Times Colonist for an interview that looked back on his decade as premier and the challenges ahead.

He dismissed long-held criticism from some on Vancouver Island that his government has mostly ignored Island issues and building projects, ranging from Victoria's Johnson Street Bridge to E&N rail.

Campbell countered with his support of Greater Victoria sewage treatment, which will cost the provincial government "a pretty big commitment" of up to $260 million of the $780-million project. He said he rarely hears Islanders complain about unfair treatment.

"If they do feel like that, I'm sorry that they do," he said. "But the fact of the matter is Vancouver Island has done pretty well in the last 10 years."

He rejected, too, any suggestion he jumped from cause to cause and left a trail of partially fulfilled promises, such as the New Relationship with aboriginals, or environmental reform like the carbon tax and cap-and-trade system. Campbell said he's remaining committed to his projects, but the media hasn't covered their progress because it's no longer news.

Campbell also insisted he doesn't take offence when he hears virtually all the Liberal leadership candidates say the next premier should have less power and be more far consultative with MLAs as part of legislative reform packages.

"I'd hope the new leaders will have all kinds of new ideas of how they can make this place better," he said.

"We were constantly trying new ideas. So what [media] might describe as flitting from one thing to the next is actually new ideas, moving new things forward, continuing on with the agenda you set in new ways."

The legislature could be much more meaningful if government and opposition worked better together, said Campbell, repeating comments he's made in recent months that MLAs must resist name-calling and rise above partisan disputes to unite on important issues.

Campbell said his departure has been misconstrued as being forced out of office when, rather, he'd decided to do so on his own during an Oct. 31 weekend visit to family in Los Angeles.

"The BlackBerry is buzzing and the phone is ringing; I don't know why it struck me at the time but it struck me that Geoff, my oldest son, was eight years old when I ran for office, and he's now 34.

"I thought to myself, I don't want to miss out on [grandchildren] Bowen, or Jimmy or Sidney. I don't want to miss out on that because I'm doing all this. That was one of the things that got me to the point where I said it's time for the change and I'm ready to make the change."

So far, that change has included filling in as a last-minute babysitter for his grandkids, something he said he never had the time to do before.

"It seems like a little thing, but it's one of those things. I think a lot of people think you'll stop being premier and your life is going to get smaller. My life is going to get different, but I think it's going to get bigger."

In Campbell's first throne speech in 2001, he legislated angry nurses back to work. They threw shoes at him while he stood outside the building waiting for the lieutenant governor.

On his 14th and final throne speech Monday, he said he took the time to glance at the historic building, the fluttering flags and the troops assembled for review.

"I stood there and thought to myself, you are pretty lucky, you are one of 34 people in the history of the province who had the opportunity to do this.

"People often in the job say, 'Are you having fun?' And I say, 'I'm not particularly having fun but it's a rewarding job.' "

"I feel really lucky to have had a chance to do it. But, frankly, I'm really pleased to be leaving."

rfshaw@timescolonist.com