While his own riding tops the list in the provincewide anti-HST petition campaign, Boundary-Similkameen MLA John Slater has been named to the legislature committee expected to review the initiative. Slater said Tuesday he is among 10 MLAs (six Liberals and four New Democrats) chosen for the select standing committee on legislative initiatives. If the Fight HST campaign is successful, the committee will decide whether to recommend that the anti-tax bill and petition be forwarded directly to the legislature or put to a provincewide vote. The petition campaign has gained the required 10 per cent support in 83 of 85 B.C. ridings, with only Vancouver-Langara and Richmond East still short of the goal. The campaign officially closes July 5. The latest tally indicates more than 10,000 residents in Boundary-Similkameen, representing 37.5 per cent of registered voters, have signed the petition - the most in the province. The initiative has gained about 33 per cent support in the Penticton riding.Slater said the standing legislative committee will sit only if all 85 ridings get the minimum 10 per cent petition support.
"We live in a democracy and we‘ll have a look at it," he said. "If it‘s decided by the 10 of us that we should have a referendum or other measures, that will be determined once we have all the information." Slater said although the HST is perceived as unpopular, he has seen no indications the government will repeal the tax prior to its July 1 implementation date. "Unfortunately, we‘re in some tough economic times right now, and it‘s our position that we want to put people back to work," he said. "The financial analysts in Canada have said this is going to be a great program for British Columbia. It‘s going to make us competitive in the world scenario."
That view isn‘t shared by HST opponents. Chris Delaney, who ran for the B.C. Conservatives in Penticton in last year‘s election, is one of the driving forces behind the Fight HST campaign. Delaney said he can‘t see why the legislative committee can‘t deal with the matter as quickly as possible this fall. "Our position is we want the legislature to vote on this. We don‘t want a referendum because we feel the petition itself is a referendum," he said. "There‘s really no purpose to doing a referendum, other than to try to scuttle it." Delaney said his organization would view that as an attempt by the B.C. Liberal government to manipulate the process and would likely then launch an MLA recall campaign. "Our goal has never been to put in a new government - that‘s for election time," he said. "We think if we were to recall the premier, for example, that would probably be substantial enough to back off from the tax." Delaney declined to speculate whether the government would voluntary rescind the HST prior to July 1. "This government is difficult to predict because they‘re operating on pride, not reason," he said. "When people operate based an emotional component, it‘s completely beyond anybody‘s ability to predict."
Paul McCavour of Osoyoos, head of the Fight HST campaign in Boundary-Similkameen, said the goal has been to get 40 per cent support in the riding, which stretches from Osoyoos north to Kaleden and Christina Lake west to Hedley. Provincewide, petition organizers hope to gain 15 per cent support in each riding to allow a buffer against signatures possibly being rejected by Elections B.C.
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1 comment:
Slater and Foster would be probably the first two named in a recall petition. Foster does not even understand the HST, and Slater certainly does not garner public respect
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