VICTORIA – The president of a B.C. Liberal cabinet minister's riding association today called for the resignation of Finance Minister Colin Hansen, saying recent revelations over the HST have severely damaged Hansen's reputation. In a blog entry, Jordan Bateman said the “handling and implementation of the HST has been one blunder after another.” Bateman added that Hansen's credibility is now “completely shot.” “Every media outlet in British Columbia is churning out story after story on the HST documents. It certainly isn’t good news for the BC Liberals,” he wrote. “It reaffirms the thought that Minister Colin Hansen should resign.” The move is a rare and surprising break in solidarity within the B.C. Liberal party, and comes as the government is defending a new round of criticism over its handling of the HST. Bateman is the president of Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman's Fort Langley-Aldergrove riding association. He is also a councillor in the Township of Langley.
In an interview, Bateman reaffirmed his call for Hansen to resign. “I support the party and I certainly support our MLA Rich Coleman. But this HST has just been mishandled from the very beginning,” said Bateman. “It seems like every week there's more mistakes and more bizarre things that occur and I just don't think the finance ministry has the credibility now that it once had.”
View the blog entry here. (original Post Taken down)
------------
B.C. Liberal retracts demand Hansen quit CBC New Thursday, September 2, 2010 | 4:39 PM PT
A B.C. Liberal party insider has retracted his call for provincial Finance Minister Colin Hansen's resignation. Jordan Bateman, the Langley Liberal riding association president, wrote on his blog Thursday that the government's handling of the HST has been one blunder after another and the minister should resign. But that blog has been taken down and it's been replaced with an apology after Hansen had a long conversation with Bateman later in the day, the minister said. As for the resignation, Hansen said he has no intention of quitting and has "every intention to continue to serve the people of British Columbia." Internal government documents made public Wednesday show bureaucrats in Hansen's ministry were working on the HST months before the May 2009 B.C. election. Hansen said he didn't consider the documents until after the May election.
No comments:
Post a Comment