I think Benning is a good GM, not a great one. He has his warts, but so does everyGM. He's a fantastic at the draft, hit and miss at trades and poor at signings, but his record in the latter two categories is improving.
The thing everyone in the 'Fire Benning' camp seems to neglect is that if you can him he does need to be replaced. And it seems nobody who wants to fire him has his next in line lined up, and you can't just get rid of him and watch the team magically win the cup without a GM. I'm convinced most people in that camp are just part of the vocal minority of canucks fans who look to complain about everything.