Thwart Democracy

Watching the evening news on Wednesday September 8, 2010 and listening to the NDP and anti-HST petition organizer Chris Delaney the only conclusion a rational person could draw is that if is anyone is seeking to “thwart democracy” and “not to do the people’s will”, as Mr. Delaney accused the Liberals of, it is Mr. Delaney and NDP who seek to force the government to bow to their will and deny myself and the majority of BC voters the right to have any say in the HST.

NDP MLA Rob Fleming stated “We’ll be looking for a way to correct course and have democracy play a role and allow ordinary British Columbians to speak through their elected representatives on their feelings about the HST.”

It comes as no surprise that a member of the NDP, indeed the NDP party of BC itself, is so math challenged that he, or they, cannot perform the simple math to determine that only 22% of ordinary British Columbians (those who signed the anti-HST petition) have had an opportunity to speak and that the large majority of ordinary British Columbians 78% – have not had an opportunity to express their feelings about the HST.

After all the NDP party and caucus is calling for the return of the $1.6 billion the federal government paid to BC to implement the HST at the same time the NDP propose to spend hundreds of millions more dollars on Education and Healthcare.

Cut $1.6 Billion out of the 2011 budget while increasing the 2011 budget by an unknown number of hundreds of millions of dollars of spending on Education and Healthcare. And the NDP wonder why anyone with any financial common sense won’t vote for the party as it is currently constituted. Still it is this kind of nonsense that explains how the NDP can think that it is proper to act on the 22% who signed the anti-HST petition and ignore the wishes of the 78% who DID NOT sign the anti-HST petition.

As to Mr. Vander Zalm, Mr Delaney and the other anti-HST petition organizers, Mr. Delaney himself announced in August that the 705,643 signatures collected represented only 22 % of those eligible to vote in the 2009 election.

Apparently to Mr. Vander Zalm, Mr Delaney and the other anti-HST petition organizers the will of the 78% large majority of British Columbians who did not sign the anti-HST petition does not count because they don’t agree with Mr. Vander Zalm, Mr. Delaney and the anti-HST forces.

Those who, while not totally enamoured of the HST, feel that given the financial realities facing the province, the BC government had no reasonable option but to accept the $1.6 billion dollar bribe from the federal government and/or have to much common sense to call for cutting $1.6 billion out of the 2011 BC budget in order to repeal the HST and repay the $1.6 billion in federal funds paid to BC for implementing the HST.

Should the Liberal government opt to send the petition to referendum to determine how the 78% majority of voters who have not yet had an opportunity to express their views on the HST feel, what then?

Anti-HST petition organizer Chris Delaney threatened Liberal MLAs with “being the target of recall campaigns this fall if the committee opts to send the petition to a referendum.”

According to Mr. Delaney, Liberal MLAs are to ignore the wants or opinions of the 78% majority on the HST question and bow to the wants of the 22% minority under threat of recall.

In threatening Liberal MLAs with recall if they opt to seek to hear from the 78% majority that has not been heard from in the HST debate it is Mr. Vander Zalm, Mr. Delaney and the anti-HST forces who seek to thwart democracy; wanting MLAs not to do the people’s will, but the will of only Mr. Vander Zalm, Mr. Delaney and the anti-HST forces.

Mr. Vander Zalm, Mr. Delaney, Carole James, the NDP and the anti-HST forces seek to have their will enforced over the people’s will as represented by the as yet unheard from 78% majority.

If we are going to have government by referendum, which is the road we have started down with the anti-HST petition, then to protect democracy by learning what the will of all the people is, we must hold a province wide referendum and permit the 78% of the voters who DID NOT sign the anti-HST petition am opportunity to voice their position on the HST.