- If you lie down with Harper and the Con's, you wake up fleeced

Posted: 7/1/2010 11:55:36 AM The Globe and Mail
Application for judicial review can’t stop anti-HST petition juggernaut, Robert Matas, Globe and Mail, Jul. 01, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/application-for-judicial-review-cant-stop-anti-hst-petition-juggernaut/article1625280/

"claiming that the draft bill deals with a matter that is not within the jurisdiction of the legislature and fails to meet requirements to be clear and unambiguous "

It seems to me that if the Court rules that the draft legislation to withdraw the HST in BC is not within the jurisdiction of the BC Legislature, then it must be within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government.

In other words it is laying the blame of the HST squarely at the feet of Stephen Harper, where it ought to lie.

It is hard to imagine that it would be any more vague than the implementing legislation so I would be very surprised if that flew to any degree.

The HST is the doings of Harper and the Con's and designed to increases taxes but make it look like it is the Province and not Harper that is doing it.

It has been estimated to increase the value added taxes in BC and Ontario by 1.5 points, thus undoing the 2 point reduction in the GST that Harper so recklessly implemented and with regard only to partizan benefits and Canadians be damned. (Oh, and did I mention, Harper does not increase taxes.)

One need only consider the 1.6 billion payment to BC and the 4.3 billion payment to Ontario of Canadians hard earned tax dollars by Harper to implement it.

Campbell is likely not too worried about the petition since the outcome, if it is successful, is to go to Committee to decide whether to vote on it in the BC Legislature or hold a non-binding referendum. The BC Legislature passed the implementing legislation in the first place and voting down this would be expected. It would be very surprising if Gordon Campbell were agreeable to a referendum, which would be politically very unwise.

The interesting aspect of this whole matter is the possibilities of the BC Recall Legislation.
"Anti-HST activists in B.C. say now that their first petition is nearly complete, they'll launch a recall campaign targeting 24 of the governing B.C. Liberals' most vulnerable MLAs." (CBC 24 Jun.'10)

This is the big deal, given the unpopularity of the HST and especially since in some riding, apparently, more people have signed the petition than voted for their MLA. When Campbell puts the kibosh on this draft bill, voter resentment in BC will run even higher.

Having 24 of his MLA's recalled is not that unthinkable and the ensuing by-elections would likely prove disastrous to Campbell. Given that the standing right now are: 48 Liberals, 35 New Democrats, two independents, this is certainly significant.

This also probably explains Campbell's hesitation to join the Court action - if it is successful and he is associated with it, it could be even more disastrous when the HST by-elections are brought on.

It is standard strategy of political parties that are accountable only every 4 years (or so) to not mention anything during an election, then right after winning the election introduce very controversial legislation in anticipation that in 4 years people will have gotten over it. I don't think that Campbell took into his calculations Bill Vander Zalm's 700,000 signature petition (what party was former BC Premier Vander Zalm again).

So, it looks like Campbell will take the fall-out of Harper's tax increase. The only thing I can say is: "If you lie down with Con's, you wake up fleeced"

Oh, and did I mention, the benefits to businesses due to the implementation of the HST will be passed onto the consumer (sorry, I forgot, that was Mulroney's Con when he brought in the GST in the first place, not likely anyone will fall for it again, is it)

PS: Happy Canada Day, everyone!

Lloyd MacILquham cicblog.com/comments.html