blank
blank
REMEMBER THE GST? Fool us once, shame on you . . . fool us twice, SHAME ON BC!
blank

PRESS RELEASE: VANDER ZALM ASKS BLOC TO ABSTAIN FROM HST VOTE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, November 30, 2009

VANDER ZALM ASKS BLOC TO ABSTAIN FROM HST VOTE

Calls on Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, to Allow “Free Vote” of BC MPs

Delta BC – Former BC Premier and Leader of the Fight HST group, Bill Vander Zalm, is calling on the Bloc Quebecois to withdraw support for the HST in BC, and to abstain from voting completely.  He has made a similar request to Liberal Leader, Michael Ignatieff, asking him to allow only Liberal MPs in BC to vote on the controversial tax proposal that polls show is opposed by over 85% of British Columbians.

“We have sent formal requests to the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, and Leader of the Bloc Quebecois, asking that they reconsider their positions on this hated sales tax for BC,” said Vander Zalm.

“We have asked that Prime Minister Harper and Opposition Leader Ignatieff allow only their BC MPs to vote on this issue, and that it be a free vote to reflect the wishes of their constituents.”

“We have asked Mr. Duceppe to have his MPs abstain from voting on this issue altogether, since implementation of the HST in BC is relevant only to British Columbians, and has no bearing on Quebec,” Vander Zalm explained.

Vander Zalm said that the only federal party that has so far come out in opposition to the HST is the NDP, led by Jack Layton. Vander Zalm pointed out that the recent by-election win in New Westminister/Coquitlam by the NDP was directly related to their strong opposition to the HST.

Vander Zalm says opposition to the HST in BC is growing, not diminishing as the BC Liberals had hoped. He says that it would be grossly unfair for MPs from other parts of Canada, like Quebec and Ontario, being used to support a tax in BC that is so strongly opposed by the vast majority here.

“Prime Minister Harper has said it is a provincial decision. We agree. Let the people of BC decide this issue for themselves with their own MPs in a free vote. We believe that is the only fair and democratic way to resolve this issue,” concluded Vander Zalm.

Vander Zalm has promised to post the names of every BC MP on his Fight HST group’s web site, with a record of how each Member voted on the HST. The names will also be given to local media for publication at election time to remind voters how their MP voted on the HST.

SITE SEARCH

CONTACT

If you would like to send a General Inquiry
List of the Associations taking legal action against the Petition.

- John Allan, Council of Forest Industries
- Pierre Gratton, Mining Association of British Columbia.
- Philip Hochstein, Independent Contractors & Business.
- Wayne Hoskins, Western Convenience Stores Assn.
- Rick Jeffery, Coast Forest Products Assn.
- John R. Winter, B.C. Chamber of Commerce

Membership in these Associations can be found online. We are told that the B.C. Ferry Corporation, the B.C. Hydro Corporation, the B.C. Transmission Corporation and the B.C. Lottery Corporation are members of the Western Convenience Stores Assn. or the B.C. Chamber of Commerce.

BCRECALL

Provincial MLA Recall List, by Riding.
FIND YOUR RIDING by POSTAL CODE
Stay tuned for the recall sign-up for each MLA on the Chopping Block. The first thing that any riding considering recall needs to do is find a good financial agent, so start thinking about it now.

Boundary-Similkameen Slater, John
Burnaby North Lee, Richard
Cariboo-Chilcotin Barnett, Donna
Chilliwack Les, John
Chilliwack-Hope Penner, Barry
Comox Valley McRae, Don
Kamloops-North Thompson Lake, Terry
Kamloops-South Thompson Kreuger, Kevin
Kelowna-Lake Country Letnick, Norm
Kelowna-Mission Thompson, Steve
Kootenay EastBennett, Bill
Langley Polak, Mary
Nechako Lakes Rustad, John
Oak Bay-Gordon Head Chong, Ida
Parksville-Qualicum Cantelon, Ron
Peace River North Pimm, Pat
Penticton Barisoff, Bill
Prince George-Mackenzie Bell, Pat
Saanich North and the Islands Coell, Murray
Shuswap Abbott, George
Surrey-White Rock Hogg, Gordon
Vancouver-Fraserview Heed, Kash
Vernon-Monashee Foster, Eric
Westside-Kelowna Stewart, Ben

MP

Twitter
CLICK HERE to email the Prime Minister of Canada
CLICK HERE to email the Governor General of Canada
FEDERAL MP LIST (Click name for details)
AbbotsfordFast, Ed (Mr.)
BC Southern InteriorAtamanenko, Alex (Mr.)
Burnaby - DouglasSiksay, Bill (Mr.)
Burnaby - New WestminsterJulian, Peter (Mr.)
Cariboo - Prince GeorgeHarris, Richard M. (Mr.)
Chilliwack - Fraser CanyonStrahl, Chuck (Hon.)
Delta - Richmond EastCummins, John (Mr.)
Esquimalt - Juan de FucaMartin, Keith (Hon.)
Fleetwood - Port KellsGrewal, Nina (Mrs.)
Kamloops - Thompson - CaribooMcLeod, Cathy (Mrs.)
Kelowna - Lake CountryCannan, Ron (Mr.)
Kootenay - ColumbiaAbbott, Jim (Hon.)
LangleyWarawa, Mark (Mr.)
Nanaimo - AlberniLunney, James (Mr.)
Nanaimo - CowichanCrowder, Jean (Ms.)
Newton - North DeltaDhaliwal, Sukh (Mr.)
North VancouverSaxton, Andrew (Mr.)
Okanagan - CoquihallaDay, Stockwell (Hon.)
Okanagan - ShuswapMayes, Colin (Mr.)
Pitt Meadows - Maple Ridge - MissionKamp, Randy (Mr.)
Port Moody - Westwood - Port CoquitlamMoore, James (Hon.)
Prince George - Peace RiverHill, Jay (Hon.)
RichmondWong, Alice (Mrs.)
Saanich - Gulf IslandsLunn, Gary (Hon.)
Skeena - Bulkley ValleyCullen, Nathan (Mr.)
South Surrey - White Rock - CloverdaleHiebert, Russ (Mr.)
Surrey NorthCadman, Dona (Ms.)
Vancouver CentreFry, Hedy (Hon.)
Vancouver EastDavies, Libby (Ms.)
Vancouver Island NorthDuncan, John (Mr.)
Vancouver KingswayDavies, Don (Mr.)
Vancouver QuadraMurray, Joyce (Ms.)
Vancouver SouthDosanjh, Ujjal (Hon.)
VictoriaSavoie, Denise (Ms.)
West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky CountryWeston, John (Mr.)

MLA

Twitter
FIND YOUR RIDING by POSTAL CODE
Email the Prime Minister of Canada
Email the Governor General of Canada
MP Letter Template
Prime Minister Letter Template
PROVINCIAL MLA LIST (by riding)
Abbotsford South John van Dongen
Abbotsford West Mike De Jong
Abbotsford-Mission Randy Hawes
Alberni-Pacific Rim Scott Fraser
Boundary-Similkameen John Slater
Burnaby North Richard Lee
Burnaby-Deer Lake Kathy Corrigan
Burnaby-Edmonds Raj Chouhan
Burnaby-Lougheed Harry Bloy
Cariboo North Bob Simpson
Cariboo-Chilcotin Donna Barnett
Chilliwack John Les
Chilliwack-Hope Barry Penner
Columbia River-Revelstoke Norm MacDonald
Comox Valley Don McRae
Coquitlam-Burke Mountain Douglas Horne
Coquitlam-Maillardville Diane Thorne
Cowichan Valley Bill Routley
Delta North Guy Gentner
Delta South Vicki Huntington
Esquimalt-Royal Roads Maurine Karagianis
Fort Langley-Aldergrove Rich Coleman
Fraser-Nicola Harry Lali
Juan de Fuca John Horgan
Kamloops-North Thompson Terry Lake
Kamloops-South Thompson Kevin Kreuger
Kelowna-Lake Country Norm Letnick
Kelowna-Mission Steve Thomson
Kootenay EastBill Bennett
Kootenay West Katrine Conroy
Langley Mary Polak
Maple Ridge-Mission Marc Dalton
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Michael Sather
Nanaimo Leonard Krog
Nanaimo-North Cowichan Doug Routley
Nechako Lakes John Rustad
Nelson-Creston Michelle Mungall
New Westminster Dawn Black
North Coast Gary Coons
North Island Claire Trevena
North Vancouver-Lonsdale Naomi Yamamoto
North Vancouver-Seymour Jane Ann Thornwaite
Oak Bay-Gordon Head Ida Chong
Parksville-Qualicum Ron Cantelon
Peace River North Pat Pimm
Peace River South Blair Lekstrom
Penticton Bill Barisoff
Port Coquitlam Mike Farnworth
Port Moody-Coquitlam Ian Black
Powell River-Sunshine Coast Nicholas Simons
Prince George-Mackenzie Pat Bell
Prince George-Valemount Shirley Bond
Richmond Centre Rob Howard
Richmond East Linda Reid
Richmond-Steveston John Yap
Saanich North and the Islands Murray Coell
Saanich South Lana Popham
Shuswap George Abbott
Skeena Robin Austin
Stikine Doug Donaldson
Surrey-Cloverdale Kevin Falcon
Surrey-FleetwoodJagrup Brar
Surrey-Green Timbers Sue Hammell
Surrey-Newton Harry Bains
Surrey-Panorama Stephanie Cadieux
Surrey-Tynehead Dave Hayer
Surrey-WhalleyBruce Ralston
Surrey-White Rock Gordon Hogg
Vancouver-Fairview Margaret MacDiarmid
Vancouver-False Creek Mary McNeil
Vancouver-Fraserview Kash Heed
Vancouver-Hastings Shane Simpson
Vancouver-Kensington Mabel Elmore
Vancouver-Kingsway Adrian Dix
Vancouver-Langara Moira Stilwell
Vancouver-Mount PleasantJenny Kwan
Vancouver-Point Grey Gordon Campbell
Vancouver-Quilchena Colin Hansen
Vancouver-West End Spencer Herbert
Vernon-Monashee Eric Foster
Victoria-Beacon Hill Carole James
Victoria-Swan Lake Rob Fleming
West Vancouver-Capilano Ralph Sultan
West Vancouver-Sea to Sky Joan McIntyre
Westside-Kelowna Ben Stewart

ABOUT