The HST is going to be good for all concerned, but there are exceptions.
- Tourism Minister Kevin Krueger
There is only one way to stop the B.C. Liberals' plan to impose a Harmonized Sales Tax on British Columbians - a recall campaign that ends their Legislature majority.
Premier Gordon Campbell is clear - despite enormous opposition and more than 55,000 people joining my Facebook protest group NO BC HST - that he will go ahead despite the fact that 85% of BCers despise the HST.
Those Ipsos Reid polling results show that people realize anything currently taxed with the 5% GST will get an extra 7% tax added on in July 2010 for a total 12% HST.
Consumers would pay an extra $1.9 billion a year - with all that money going to big business - not a dime of the HST will pay for health care, education or social services.
So the only way to force Campbell and Finance Minister Colin Hansen to drop the HST is to threaten their Legislative majority and, if necessary, recall enough B.C. Liberal MLAs so they cannot remain in government.
The appropriate response to abuse of power is to remove power. Taking out just eight B.C. Liberals would defeat the government.
It's not easy. Despite promises to improve recall legislation - sound familiar? - the Campbell government did nothing.
But it's also far from impossible.
First - the recall campaign cannot start under Elections B.C. rules until 18 months after the election - November 2010 - but organizing can take place now to identify voters who want to recall their B.C. Liberal MLA.
That's important because once the recall petition process begins you only have 60 days to collect the signatures of 40% of voters who were registered voters for that riding during the May 12, 2009 provincial election. A tough task - but recall pre-organizing can happen without spending limits until petitions are filed.
Successful recall pre-organizing could panic the government into dropping the HST, because if not, Campbell and Hansen would lose power long before the 2013 election.
That may be enough, but if not, here are the unlucky 13 B.C. Liberal MLAs easiest to recall, in order:
Eric Foster - Vernon-Monashee, 37%; John Slater - Boundary-Similkameen, 37%; Pat Pimm - Peace River North, 43%; Bill Barisoff - Penticton, 44%; John Les - Chilliwack, 45%; Murray Coell - Saanich North and the Islands, 45%; Marc Dalton - Maple Ridge-Mission, 46%; Ida Chong - Oak Bay, 47%; George Abbott - Shuswap, 47%; Terry Lake - Kamloops-North Thompson, 47%; Margaret MacDiarmid - Vancouver-Fairview, 47%; Don McRae - Comox Valley, 47%; Donna Barnett - Cariboo-Chilcotin, 48%/.
And one more for good measure, at 17th, Gordon Campbell - Vancouver-Point Grey, 50%.
If you haven't joined NO BC HST, go to www.Facebook.com and search for it.
Read more from Bill Tieleman at www.thetyee.ca Hear Bill Mondays at 10 a.m. on CKNW AM 980's Bill Good Show. Email: weststar@telus.net Website: billtieleman. blogspot.com
