Friday, December 31, 2010

The HST Referendum Sting


Happy New Years Friends....A couple of thoughts crossed my mind today, actually, I sortta nibbled around the edges of it a few weeks ago, ever since Gordon Campbell agreed so willingly to have a Province wide referendum on the hst, it really bothered me at the time that he chose that route, only an idiot would deny the tax will be defeated in a referendum vote, especially with only a simple majority required to pass, not the super majority that the act requires, then today Bill Vanderzalm said something that turned on my light bulb(He was on with Michael Smyth on cknw)....

Campbell and Hansen dumped the HST on us in July of 2009, they had a whole year to sell it to us before it came in, despite all their paid hacks, all the spin the public still didn`t buy it, so now the Zalm anti-HST petition gets going and 6000 canvassers make history, the first successful petition, and what happened next, big business tried to use the referendum act and the law to overthrow the petition, they managed to delay the process but we won....

Last month I wrote about Christy Clark wanting a free vote on the HST in the legislature, I warned that if the BC Liberals all voted for the HST it would satisfy the requirement of the anti-HST petition and it would kill the requirement to have the referendum vote......Nobody seemed to pick up that angle of the story but us...And today another angle has come to light, it really bothered me, Gordon Campbell and all the potential leaders of the Liberals state..."They will honor a simple majority on the referendum vote".......

Zalm, Delaney and others have asked and stated that the Liberals must enshrine in law(In the BC Legislature) that a simple majority in the anti-HST referendum will be binding......

Here`s the deal folks, we had a successful HST petition,  10% in each of 85 ridings, with that the act states, ...The successful petition is sent to a legislative committee, the committee has but 2 choices, either it send the HST to the house for a vote or.....Or have a Province wide referendum.....But there in lies the rub, in the back of my mind, ever since Campbell agreed to a referendum and also agreed to a simple majority but refuses to enshrine in law that  NEW aspect of the referendum act in law....We were told to trust him, all the media have been saying..."What leader go back on their word, it would be political suicide"

There it is folks, the referendum act,  the petition, the remedy, a house vote or referendum, a referendum that requires a super majority, 75% in 85 ridings, or something like that, that many people don`t show up for general elections, the point being is....THAT IS the LAW...The legal law....Remember the big business law suit against the petition, the BC Government put their hands up and said..it`s not us! Craig James threw his hands up, the referendum according to the act must receive a super majority to pass, no where does the act say.."Unless a resigned premier gives his word"

I may not be a legal scholar but it`s as plain as the nose on my face, if big business launched a law suit after the referendum defeats the hst but only with a large simple majority then what?...Think about it, would the Liberal Government call the house to order to enshrine the simple majority referendum vote into law?....And if the BC Liberals did that after the law suit, after the vote.....Can they make the NEW REFERENDUM LAW RETROACTIVE?

Remember who has the most at stake, big wealthy resource export industries, mining, oil n gas, raw log exporters, and who pays, everybody, we have a BC Liberal Government that says trust us, we ask them to enshrine that trust in law and they say no.....And who does their dirty work, Hocstein, Chambers of Commerce, big mining, big donaters to the BC Liberal party......The door is being left wide open for them to challenge the referendum, the act requires a super majority, that is law, so the word of a resigned premier or new premier won`t trump the law, the act, and there is no guarantee of making a change to the referendum act after the vote, meaning.....Say you cut a tree on your yard, and it was legal to do so, 6 months later the law is changed and you now get fined $5000 dollars, laws for the most part can`t be made retroactive....

I remember Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen stating that we are stuck with the HST no matter how many people sign a petition, and now delays, stalls, non-binding referendums, no enshrining the simple majority part in law.

I believe friends, Gordon Campbell is leaving a poison pill for the people and a legal out for big business, in one fell swoop big industry can kill the anti-HST petition and referendum, the change to the referendum act must be made ahead of the vote, that`s the only assurance we as voters can get, we must have it....The BC Liberals must at the earliest in the Spring session of the legislature enshrine in law that a simple majority is all that is required in the HST referendum, if they refuse their real intentions will be exposed, so far, every BC Liberal leader has refused to enshrine the simple majority and referendum act change in law... 

Do you trust Hocstein and friends?

"Recall in Fall"

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

History tells us that there's one thing that is constant as far as the BC Liberals are concerned and that is you can not take them for their word. Why should Gordon Campbell saying 50% + 1 be any different? Everything they say and do has an ulterior motive.Liars and thieves every last one of them.

Don F. said...

The day Gordon Campbell resigned was my 59th birthday, I remember being so elated that day My son phoned me from Vancouver, as I live in the Okanagan and said Dad, this must be your best birthday ever! It should have been but something nagged away inside me and wasn't quite clear until almost bedtime when it hit me, he isn't going anywhere but his word on the referendum is, he found his way to accomplish unfinished business and renege on any promises made and guess what within a week he was still there but his tax cut gone, reneged on, as will be the promise for the referendum. The recall must continue and the pressure must be put on heavy to have this put into law, for those shouting "there is no need for recall you got your referendum," our answer should be "not yet we haven't"
Don

Johns Aghast said...

Don F. I hate to rain on your B/D party, but are you sure he resigned? After all, you only have his word for it.
Maybe he's back in Maui on temporary leave.

Maybe he's got all his big guns with him figuring out how to desensitive the BC Rail Inquiry. Given the damage a REAL inquiry would do to him and his henchman I would expect a whole lot of energy is being devoted to countering anything it would prove.

jaydee said...

Campbell made it very clear what he plans to do when he said he will do whatever it takes to make sure there is never another NDP government in B.C. and the same goes for the HST. That would include breaking any laws he needs to succeed, breaking laws being the one thing he is good at.

He has already planted James Craig in Elections B.C. in preparation for the HST vote and the provincial election. No matter what happens Campbell will continue to rule from the back room, again just like Vladimir Putin.

Scary times ahead for B.C. just like third world countries, corrupt the HST votes and the ballot boxes.

cherylb said...

If Campbell or any of the Lieberals tried to pull that they would be out on their ears and never again would a Lieberal Party be a part of BC politics.

Elwood said...

Cheryl, you are right but if you know your political history everyone will then go more right-wing like ..........pffft......... BC Reform, BC Con, BC Refed, etc. Ugh!

And BC will then go into a further injustice hole. Gawd help us all!!!!

Anonymous said...

Yes, you and Vanderzam have got it right. Campbell's word alone on a fifty plus one percent anti-HST referendum vote doesn't assure us of anything. It must be changed by law in the legislature and thereby legalized.

For now RECALL is our only hope.

jaydee said...

Who's to stop him? RCMP? Laws? Elections, B.C.? Courts? Media? Opposition?

Just askin', wish they would, all bribed and bought and sold with our money by Himself!

Anonymous said...

I understaand your HATE for Campbell and his willy weasle MLA's. But hate is a wasted emotion. We, the people of BC must be resolved and methodical in removing these Liberal thugs from government.The only way we can accomplish this AT THIS TIME is throught the process of RECALL.If we are to assume any semblance of democracy, this process MUST succeed.

Anonymous said...

So, is the referendum, just another one of Campbell's underhanded scams? jaydee is right. The corruption starts at the top of the food chain with Campbell, and, goes right down to the bottom. The judicial system, the RCMP, Elections BC, the FOI was even tampered with. Campbell's corrupt sale of the BCR and De Jongs cover-up, and his thieving of our tax dollars, to pay for the two patsies legal expenses. And who knows, De Jong may have given Basi and Virk a lot more than, just legal expenses, out of our taxes. Campbell's theft of our rivers, is really going to hurt many of the BC people, a hydro hike going up to 55%? We really have no idea, just how many billions, Campbell has thieved from the province and the people, over his time in office. If you or I thieved as Campbell does, we for certain, would do prison time, and likely have our assets seized as well

jaydee said...

If I may, Grant, a 'carry over' from your post Who are the NDP?

Moe the Foe is hard at work today destroying the NDP. More lies from him about Larsen complete with comments to the corporate mafia msm and the gender thing just happens to be remembered by the corrupt media.

No news on the B.C. Liberals, B.C. Refed, B.C. First, B.C. Conservatives, the Greens.......

MOE the FOE GO NOW, Bob stays. Media feeder Moe is loved by the B.C. Corporate Liberals.

Crankypants said...

I agree wholheartedly with you, Grant. The committee that dealt with the successful FightHST petition could have chosen to have the Legislature recalled to deal with the issue or a referendum. The NDP members of the committee favoured recalling the Legislature, while the BC Liberal side favoured a referendum. The committee had more Liberals than NDP, and got their way.

I suspect that Campbell's simple majority decree could be challenged in court, as it contravenes the legislation that FightHST was implemented under. As a matter of fact, our good buddy, Craig James, could decide unilaterally, that the upcoming referendum did not meet the super majority required by "the Recall And Initiative Act", as it is currently written, and give the new leader of the Liberals an out. Just ask the former employees of BC Rail and the HEU how much the word of the BC Liberal Party is worth.

I also don't think that the new leader of the Liberals can tinker with the date of the referendum without changing the legislation of the "Act".

We are all expected to abide by the laws that are foisted upon us through legislation passed by our various levels of government, and I don't think that any leader in power has the right to contravene said laws for political expediency without enacting the changes they wish through the proper mechanisms.

We have to have a successful recall of Ida Chong, and continue the recall campaigns to force the BC Liberal Party to do the right thing regarding the HST.

The rebellion against the HST has grown bigger than just a fight against an unfair, regressive tax. It has become a vehicle by which the electorate can again feel as if they have a say in how we are governed. We are tired of being nothing more than a "X" during an election and nothing more than a statistic until the next election.

Cam

jaydee said...

Anon above,

The top of the food chain starts with the corporate rulers, then their mouth pieces, all 200+ strong, the public affairs bureau propaganda machine, then it's all funnelled through the disgraced 9% premier Campbell and dictated to his gang of mlas, spit and all and finally the corrupt privately owned corporate mainstream media spoon feed the people whatever they wish, most of it not true or it goes unsaid. No different than any other third world dictatorship!

Jon Ghun said...

We have got to start looking up, folks--way up. Into the future from here onwards.

Gaining Perspective.

Making a Plan.

Ready to prosecute to the fullest extent.

We, the sovereign souls of this presenting province should convene a court of common law as is our natural right; and, from there, we must bring suit against the campbell crime syndicate, et. al., charging them with breach of fiduciary trust and multiple counts of fraudulent disposal of public properties.

It's time to take the fight to them, folks; or else, they are going to roll right over us yet again. And if we tolerate much more of this disregard, then that's going to be it for life as we know it.

We're being robbed blind by the so-called trustees and guardians. They aren't satisfied with just getting away with their crimes--no; they are proceeding to stick us with bill for their services for generations to come.

Anonymous said...

Grant, Campbell took $760 million from ICBC and put it where in the fall, this is not the first time he has taken money from ICBC instead of giving it back o the people as "overcharges".
He tries to make out our rates went down???

I'm wondering how much more money he is shuffling
behind closed doors still today to cover up his "overspending".

Does Campbell not have to answer to anyone?
Campbell and Hansen are way to quiet lately - what are they up to now? I belive we have not
seen anything yet his final master plan is still to be revealed. Scary times ahead.

RECALL them all.

A Qualicum reader

Anonymous said...

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=115454621834084&topic=451

Don't read this in the "mainstream" media.
Shameful, absolutely shameful. Just like they "fired" the second in command after Craigy takes the head lead for his government.

Despicable.