The Liberals Grim Future

2010 has been a fantastic year for the BC Liberals. Polling numbers are up, more volunteers are joining the party, and great policies have shown them to be a dominant political force in British Columbia; oh wait, that's the NDP!

We are three years away from the latest Liberal mandate ending, but they are likely going to find this to be one of their toughest years yet. Here's why:

Polling numbers for the Liberals have dropped 14% since the 2009 provincial election, that's a lot of swing seats waiting to be captured by the social democratic opposition, and they know it. Watch out Ida Chong and Murray Coell, your days are numbered.

July marks the end of the HST citizens initiative, and since we have already passed the Elections BC threshold halfway through the period, it's likely that we will get over a million signatures. August would then be the month whether or not it will be confirmed to have passed or failed by the non-partisan office of the Legislature.

Let's not forget the Basi-Virk trial, or the Kash Heed investigation either. Who knows when they will end but I'd expect Kash Heed to be required to run in a by-election in his electoral district, which he most definetely would lose.

Oh yes, in November we can start recall too! Gordon Campbell, Colin Hansen, Mike de Jong, and hopefully many others will be on the chopping block for removal from the Legislature by early 2011.

You know if all this happened just in the next year, with another huge deficit coming from the 2010-2011 fiscal year, the Liberals would be lucky to be as popular as the Green Party.

Number of days until Carole James wins the 2013 provincial election: 1,082

The Drama That is Politics

All around the world, politics (as always) has been causing plenty of blood, sweat, and tears. In Europe, people have been getting violent due to over taxation and fiscal austerity. In America, Republicans are attempting to convince the public that Obama is the Anti-Christ, and in the never peaceful land of Korea threats of war are rising once again. What a day to be alive.

Federally, MPs have been squirming about a possible breakdown of legislators spending habits. In BC, Gordon Campbell has admitted that he is probably more unpopular than his much hated HST. Now sure, I have my opinions on all of these things, but the fact of the matter is that politics doesn't have to always cause division, or regressive policies.

Politics shouldn't be something that is feared, together as seen with the HST initiative, good things can come out of politics. We can progress together as a society and make our community, our province, our country, and our world a better place to live. So rather than contemplate killing each other, setting off bombs in banks, and spreading hatred among our citizens, we should embrace the potential of peace, good governance, and economic prosperity.

Happy Days Are Here Again

The recession is over! At least according to Colin Hansen...

Yes according to our Finance Minister, the economic downturn that has plagued us since 2008 (some would argue 2007), is over. Hooray! But wait a minute: did we not just announce a $1.7 billion deficit in March? Isn't the unemployment rate at 7.9%? Isn't the housing market stalling? Aren't worldwide markets collapsing once again amidst European debt crisis fears?

Unfortunately, this isn't the end of the Great Recession. We may wish it to be, but this is most likely only the beginning of Act 2. Things are going to get worse, before they get better (sorry for the pessimistic view point...) It seems to that the sole reason the member from Vancouver-Quilchena made such a statement was to simply distract the public from the citizens initiative, and recent government fallouts.

When the Great Depression ended, "Happy Days Are Here Again" was played consistently. Personally, I believe that it is a little bit too early to be playing our new economic prosperity song of the day (might I suggest Bad Romance!) If it is though, perhaps it's time to cancel that massively unpopular tax, whose countdown is slowly drawing ever closer.

Partial Success!

Today, a vast majority of British Columbians have achieved a small victory. Gordon Campbell, according to C-FAX 1070 is "casting doubts about a run at a fourth term." I am not an advocate of using emoticons, but because this is a joyous occasion, I will use it only once: o_O

Some have said that because of the recent Liberal fall out, Gordon Campbell might resign. I was never one to believe this, I thought he would wait until he was forced from office, but I always kept up hope! This could be an indirect reference to Gordon Campbell's possible resignation from the office of Premier of British Columbia.

Sure it took us 9 years to get here, many scandals, and painful things to occur to our fair province, but we are closer than ever to either having the HST be repealed, or better yet, having Gordon Campbell resign. My memory tragically only spans from the Campbell ministry beyond, so the thought of the Liberal leader leaving his position, is quite exciting.

Of course though, with Gordon Campbell gone, there is a very high chance of Colin Hansen taking over the post. I swear this will be the last time I use emoticons: :(

Keep fighting the good fight ladies and gentlemen, because together we can accomplish anything.

The Never Ending Story

The Harmonized Sales Tax will unfortunately be introduced on July 1st, 2010 in British Columbia after Bill 9 was passed by the Liberal majority in the Legislature earlier today. We have not lost ladies and gentlemen; in fact we have won a major battle.

Elections BC have announced that Colin Hansen's plan to provide the public with information regarding the HST is a breaching of the Recall & Initiative Act. In response, Colin Hansen plans to file a complaint with the organization, because he doesn't agree with his own government's law.

This coupled with the fact that the initiative now has about 175,000 signatures total, and is exceeding the threshold in 21 of the 85 ridings, the Liberals are getting scared. None of the government members voted against the Consumption Tax Rebate & Transition Act. All NDP MLAs including Independent member Vicki Huntington voted against the bill.

For now, both sides must play the waiting game. With the session ending on June 3rd, and the initiative ending on July 5th, we might be able to go a day without constant yelling during Question Period about a certain sales tax. I would expect that the Initiative will pass, and if the tax does not die then, the political careers of many government members, might...

Bigger & Better Issues

The debate on Bill 9, also known as the HST legislation is soon to come to an end. The Liberals will soon hold the final vote on the act on Thursday allowing the law to come into effect on May 1st. No, the HST is not going into effect in under a week, but purchased made before hand to be delivered on or after July 1st will be charged HST. This rant though isn't about the HST (shocking I know), this is about why they are speeding up this whole process.

Mike de Jong stated earlier this week that the elected representatives of this province must get to work on more important issues. Just think about that for a moment. Everything that this government has done since the 2009 election has been controversial, and really quite regressive as far as effectiveness. Funding cuts to education, health care, and even families with autistic children. What's next? Will it be corporate votes? Will it be the disestablishment of BC Rail? Or something else that wasn't included in the Liberals platform?

The point of this is I'm scared for my province. Eight years of Campbell tyranny was bad enough, but just in this past year, they have used every dirty trick in the book. We must do whatever is necessary to either get the Liberals back on Common Sense Crescent, or better yet throw them out of their desk in the Legislature via a recall petition or face the possibility of a 20th century British Columbia, again...

I am willing to admit that there have been some solid pieces of legislation that have come from the 39th Parliament. To be fair, the Liberals haven't put out terrible pieces of legislation, but the stuff that is acceptable isn't earth shattering, and is easily overshadowed by a certain Finance Ministers lies.

If getting on to "more important business" includes things like the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, or the Zero Net Deforestation Act then all should be fine. If however, we start to see some bills calling for the privatization of BC Hydro or ICBC, I think a coup is in order.

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

A little while back there, I was talking about which Liberal MLAs we could recall beginning on the 15th of November. I was looking forward to the possibility of people like Ida Chong or Gordon Campbell being removed from the Legislature. Since then though, Colin Hansen has proven that it's capable for this government to break another one of its own laws.

Recently, he has announced that he will be sending information to every household in the province informing them about the budget. He then went on to say that he would also attempt to stop the apparent misinformation about the HST that is being spread by the NDP, the FightHST campaign, and Bill Vander Zalm himself.

If I remember correctly, and as my MLA clearly stated in the Legislature on Thursday, there is no opponent group for the Initiative to end the harmonized sales tax. Yet Mr. Hansen is using public tax dollars to get the public on his side that his new tax won't cost them more even though about 82% of British Columbians know it is not going to be revenue neutral. Another Liberal MLA is breaking the law.

I was stopped by the Recall and Initiative Act, so shouldn't he be too? Mr. Hansen, like everyone else in this province is not above the law. He must apply as the sole opponent to the Initiative, or else that is another law he is breaking. I could write a novel listing all of the acts these damn Liberals have broken in the past 11 months.

It has become increasingly apparent that the Liberals don't like democracy. First, they broke the mandate that they were elected on only three days after the polls closed. Then, they attempted to push the bill through even earlier then they announced to suck more dollars out of our wallets. Now, after all of this, they are attempting to defeat a citizen's initiative. You can't make this stuff up.

These are the final days of the Campbell ministry; it is only a matter of time until Gordon cracks under the pressure...

Step 2: Recall

November 15th, marks the start of possible recall campaigns. After this initiative is over, it is expected that citizens will mobilize and concentrate on areas of weak Liberal prominence. During a recall campaign, 40% of all registered voters are required to support the motion. If this is achieved they will be recalled. The following ridings are areas where according to the 2009 election results we could recall the Liberal MLA if we all banded together.

-Abbotsford-Mission (Mining Minister Randy Hawes)
-Abbotsford South (John van Dongen)
-Abbotsford West (Attorney General Mike de Jong)
-Boundary-Similkameen (John Slater)
-Burnaby-Lougheed (Harry Bloy)
-Burnaby North (Richard Lee)
-Cariboo-Chilcotin (Donna Barnett)
-Chilliwack (John Les)
-Chilliwack-Hope (Environment Minister Barry Penner)
-Comox Valley (Don McRae)
-Coquitlam-Burke Mountain (Douglas Horne)
-Kamloops-North Thompson (Terry Lake)
-Kamloops-South Thompson (Tourism Minister Kevin Krueger)
-Kelowna-Lake Country (Norm Letnick)
-Kelowna-Mission (Agriculture Minister Steve Thomson)
-Kootenay East (Community and Rural Development Minister Bill Bennett)
-Langley (Mary Polak)
-Maple Ridge-Mission (Marc Dalton)
-Nechako Lakes (John Rustad)
-North Vancouver-Lonsdale (Intergovernmental Minister Naomi Yamamoto)
-North Vancouver-Seymour (Jane Thornthwaite)
-Oak Bay-Gordon Head (Health Minister Ida Chong)
-Parksville-Qualicum (Ron Cantelon)
-Peace River North (Pat Pimm)
-Penticton (Speaker Bill Barisoff)
-Port Moody-Coquitlam (Small Business Minister Iain Black)
-Prince George-Mackenzie (Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell)
-Prince George-Valemount (Transportation Minister Shirley Bond)
-Richmond East (Linda Reid)
-Saanich North and the Islands (Labour Minister Murray Coell)
-Shuswap (Aboriginal Relations Minister George Abbott)
-Surrey-Panorama (Stephanie Cadieux)
-Surrey-Tynehead (Dave Hayer)
-Vancouver-Fairview (Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid)
-Vancouver-False Creek (ActNow BC Minister Mary McNeil)
-Vancouver-Fraserview (Kash Heed)
-Vancouver-Langara (Advanced Education Minister Moira Stilwell)
-Vancouver-Point Grey (Premier Gordon Campbell)
-Vernon-Monashee (Eric Foster)
-Westside Kelowna (Ben Stewart)
-West Vancouver-Sea to Sky Highway (Joan McIntyre)

That is quite the list ladies and gentlemen. A full 41 Liberal MLAs could be recalled if we all worked together. Unfortunately, MLAs representing the north would be harder to recall as organizing in rural areas is much more challenging then urban cities.

Apparently, the first recall we are going to attempt it going to be Gordon Campbell's riding of Vancouver-Point Grey. If we could recall him, force a by-election, and win, then his political career would be over. How nice that would be...

The Night of Resignations

Political suicide has been committed today; twice even, one in Victoria, and the other off in Ottawa. Ms. Helena Guergis as you have most likely heard about, has resigned her position as Minister of State (Status of Women). The other, is Mr. Kash Heed, leaving the post of Solicitor-General and Minister of Public Safety.

It has been a day since Helena Guergis' husband was linked to fraudsters claiming unrestricted access to the Prime Minister's Office. In a surprising move, Mr. Harper called in the RCMP to investigate the junior minister, she later resigned. Across the country in the capital of British Columbia, Kash Heed resigned after the police accused the minister of violating the Election Act. Both legislators insist they will retain their seat in the Assembly and the House of Commons.

Now for the political spin. Will Helena Guergis survive in the next election? Geurgis' seat of Simcoe-Grey is solidly Conservative, and if anyone is going to pick it up, it will be the Liberals. Still, this is the best election since 2000 for the Liberals, and if I were in Simcoe-Grey, I would be starting to question things. Kash Heed, who by the way was a former police chief in Vancouver (irony, I love it), might have a tougher challenge in front of him in 2013. New Democrats came close there, and this seat might help us form the government in BC. In an interesting note from CTV, this is the third Solicitor-General since 2008 to resign in the current Executive Council. I sense a pattern developing.

Update (December 2011): Kash Heed is still in the political wilderness over campaigning financing breaches. Helena Guergis however was practically framed by Stephen Harper. While she did make some poor calls in the past (the airport business, etc.), the allegations that she did anything wrong in this latest round of beyond that were unproveable. She stayed on as an independnet member in the House of Commons, ran in the May 2011 election and was defeated. She was taken down single handedly by Mr. Harper. She now plans to sue the Conservative Party, the Prime Minister and members of the PMO for defamation of character.

Youth Rights or Lack Thereof

My first post on this blog was about the HST. This issue made my blood boil a little bit, prompting me to participate in my first Burma Shave, and join in a rally downtown at the Legislature. I found the HST harmful; not just for seniors, or adults, but everyone including youth. We all buy things, thus we will all pay the tax. I determined last month that I would participate in Mr. Vander Zalm's initiative to end the HST, starting on April 6th and ending on July 5th. Today, I received word from my local "captain" in the region that I cannot canvass. Why? Because I am not a registered voter.

By now, I should inform you that I have yet to reach the age of majority; I've got another year and a half to go until I achieve enfranchisement. If you're below 18 years old, you cannot be accepted on the Registered Voters List. So in essence what this means is that everyone below the age of 18 must remain silent on this issue. The youth of this great province have no voice on one of the biggest issues in British Columbia politics.

Elections BC, I hope you realize: I pay taxes too. On my receipt I see the little acronyms scrolled across reading both "PST" and "GST". I know this tax will cost me more, it affects me, and it hurts me. But it's not just me, you failure of a non-partisan election organization, everyone in this province from when you are born to your death bed has a right, guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms to criticize the government, and get involved in the democratic process. Your attempts to silence the Y Generation will end in complete and utter failure. Great change is coming; it is only a matter of time...

Democracy isn't simply about every four years crossing an "X" by your favoured candidate; it encompasses volunteering during elections to help a candidate, holding rallies down at the work place of all Members of the Legislative Assembly, and even canvassing to gain enough signatures for an initiative to force a draft bill to be in introduced in the chamber. For an organization that urges parents to bring youth and children to their voting place to get them engaged in the process, it is incredibly hypocritical of them to deny the few of those that do show an interest in the topic the right to change the province for the better.

This issue goes beyond simply allowing youth to participate in initiatives and other democratic opportunities, the voting age should be lowered as well. Elections BC can call it whatever they want, but at the end of the day this is just another attempt by the majority to silence the minority. That is discrimination.

Spring Duel

The Legislature is back from Spring Break now, and so far this has been one of the feistest sessions yet. Budget deliberations are continuing, some of the policies outlined in the Throne Speech will come out, and the dreaded HST legislation will also be introduced. If any session is going to break the people into a period of civil unrest, it's going to be this one. The Liberals are on the defensive (even more so then usual!), while the New Dems are asking for honesty from the government benches. As we all know, we aren't getting that.

A part of me wants a Liberal Minister to have a nervous breakdown during these lively debates like Stephane Dion did back in January '09 during those intense months about the possibility of a coalition. I'm expecting the NDP to bring up the fact that ordinary citizens taxes have consistently been raised since 2001, while the government will mention some distorted facts from the 1990's when the social democratic party in our province held the helm of Premier.

But the outrage goes beyond the Legislature, the Stop the HST campaign will be in full force by April 6th, having 90 days to go out and collect signatures from 10% of constituents in all electoral districts. Expect speeches, cheering, booing, and maybe even a few calling for Vander Zalm to return to his post he left so quickly back in '91.

Yes ladies and gentlemen the times are very interesting. But perhaps the most fascinating of all will be Mr. Campbell's decision to stay on or to call it quits.

Continue Minister...

Recently, I've been watching Question Period in the Legislative Assembly, and I've found an interesting trend. The next Premier will stand up and ask the BC Liberals anything ranging from a new controversial tax, to dangerously high air pollution levels in Prince George. Next, the Minister opposite will stand up and proudly state that colleagues from outside those walls back up his or her claims. Then, Ms. James will stand once again change the wording of the question, and be slightly more emotional. The Liberals will then point out additional funding they have provided to any aspect of governance, even if it's unrelated to the question at hand. Finally, the Leader of the Opposition will have her last attempt to get any answers from Campbell's buddies, and they'll respond with the claimed "awful" record of the NDP during the 1990's.

This is Question Period every day, for 30 minutes. I know that it is rare for anything to be accomplished during the half an hour, but at least in Ottawa the Conservatives don't bring up the record of the last government every 45 seconds. Well after a bit of searching I found an article online stating that if cabinet ministers can't answer the best they can "they're advised to attack the NDP record, evidence of internal conflict, etc." The document also states that it is Question Period, not "Answer Period."

If there is anything to take away from this rant, it's that the Liberals openly know that they can't answer the NDPs questions about government actions. If they don't have an answer then they will attack the NDP for their history in the 1990's. Unfortunately, a vast majority of today's Opposition MLA's weren't around in Legislature back then. Then again though, as long as the public doesn't know that, the government is in the clear. Let it be known, the NDP's record is fantastic in government stretching from Dave Barrett, Mike Harcourt, and even Ujjal Dosanjh at the turn of the century.

Free yourself from the Liberals hold, and educate yourself about the Liberals record and the NDPs record: if after that you still think Gordo's right, then there's no convincing you...

Here's the article: http://www.straight.com/article-205046/bc-premiers-office-its-question-period-not-answer-period