Citizen’s Initiative petition to eliminate the Harmonized Sales Tax is under legal attack
Jul 11, 2010 Letters
Our Fight HST Citizen’s Initiative petition to eliminate the Harmonized Sales Tax is under legal attack by a so called “coalition” of business groups.
We all know it is really the Gordon Campbell-BC Liberals using their corporate friends to try to have our petition thrown out by the court despite 705,643 BC voters signing it.
We are not going to let them!
We have hired noted BC lawyer Joseph Arvay, Q. C. to defend our citizen Initiative petition, and to challenge the legality of the HST in BC.
Tags: bc legislature, bc liberals, business groups, cheques, citizen initiative, corporate friends, finance minister, gordon campbell, harmonized sales tax, initiative petition, labour groups, legal case, mlas, money orders, narrow group, open revolt, provincial sales tax, sales tax, self interests, undemocratic government
PRESS RELEASE: Fight HST Petition breaks 700,000 signatures in final week
Jun 29, 2010 Press Release
Fight HST Petition breaks 700,000 signatures in final week
44% of total voters in last election sign up to repeal the HST
Port Coquitlam – Fight HST Lead Organizer, Chris Delaney, reported today that the Initiative to repeal the Harmonized Sales Tax broke the 700,000 signature mark this past weekend. He says that represents a total of 44% of all voters in the last election who have signed the petition.
“We are extremely happy as we prepare to deliver the petitions to Elections BC this Wednesday. The Initiative was an extraordinary success. We have an enormous number of signatures, and are even able to deliver it a week early,” said Delaney. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: bc premier, bc referendum, bill vander zalm, british columbians, canadian history, canvassers, charlottetown accord, chris delaney, citizen initiative, constitutional amendment, debt of gratitude, droves, government repeal, harmonized sales tax, initiative petition, last election, national referendum, prime minister mulroney, regional organizers, signature mark
Fight HST welcomes Blair Lekstrom’s resignation from BC Liberal caucus and cabinet over imposing HST
Jun 12, 2010 Press Release
Fight HST encourages other BC Liberal MLAs to do the right thing to stop the HST before it is imposed on July 1
Delta – Fight HST is welcoming today’s resignation by Energy Minister Blair Lekstrom from both the BC Liberal caucus and cabinet over his opposition to imposing the Harmonized Sales Tax.
And Fight HST citizens Initiative leader Bill Vander Zalm says if other BC Liberal MLAs would show the same integrity and courage that Lekstrom demonstrated, the HST could be stopped before it is imposed by Premier Gordon Campbell on July 1. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: bc premier, bill vander zalm, British Columbia, cabinet post, caucus membership, chris delaney, do the right thing, dramatic move, energy minister, harmonized sales tax, HST, initiative petition, legislative assembly, liberal caucus, liberal mlas, moral authority, overwhelming opposition, premier gordon campbell, provincial members, resignation statement
PRESS RELEASE: HST not a done deal until British Columbian’s decide, says VanderZalm
May 2, 2010 Press Release
Terminating agreement with Ottawa will not be difficult
Delta – The leader of the Initiative petition to repeal the HST, Bill Vander Zalm, says despite the BC Government’s attempts to sell the HST as a “done deal”, nothing could be further from the truth.
“They said the HST was a done deal when they signed the agreement with Ottawa nine months ago. Then they said it was a done deal in December when Ottawa passed the federal legislation in Parliament. Now, they’re saying it is a done deal with the legislation removing the PST this past week. But what they aren’t telling people is that what can be enacted by government, can be repealed,” Vander Zalm explained.
Vander Zalm says that the BC Liberal strategy has been to spread the passage of the HST out as long as they can to try to head off Fight HST’s attempts to stop it. Vander Zalm says his group anticipated this tactic, and that is why his petition is designed to “repeal” the tax once enacted, rather than trying to prevent it up front.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: bc government, bill vander zalm, british columbians, canadian history, delta, democracy, federal legislation, harmonized sales tax, HST, initiative petition, nine months, ottawa, parliament, polls, provincial sales tax, Recall, referendum, Repeal, sales tax, saskatchewan, truth, vote
Garth Turner: I know it’s efficient. So is martial law.
Apr 26, 2010 Guest Posts
Sometimes we are emailed full articles from other Blogs or from Newspapers, it’s not often that we choose to include the full contents on our site. Garth Turner posted this article on his Blog and we decided to post it.
Garth Turner, a business journalist and author of investment advice books, Garth Turner was a straightforward and outspoken member of parliament. Openly critical of some Conservative Party decisions, it probably came as no surprise when he was suspended from the Conservative caucus in October 2006. He joined the Liberal caucus in February 2007. Garth Turner used his blog to reach out directly to his constituents and provided insight into how party politics works in Canada and some of the decisions faced by a backbencher member of parliament.
From Garth Turner’s blog, http://www.greaterfool.ca/:
A few months after the federal government brought in the GST to slay the deficit, the finance minister – a great, gray, humourless god named Michael Wilson – tapped me on the shoulder. I want you, he said, to canvass the country and see if this tax has increased prices.
Tags: advice books, business journalist, conservative caucus, conservative party, finance minister, garth turner, GST, harmonized sales tax, HST, incarnation, investment advice, liberal caucus, member of parliament, michael wilson, party politics, politics works, provincial politicians, recession, ruling party
Vander Zalm Response to Vancouver Sun Columnist
Apr 8, 2010 Letters
Dear Editor,
Regarding Vaughn Palmer’s column concerning the legality of the Fight HST Citizen Initiative.
Mr. Palmer suggests that our initiative to recind the HST in BC will be off side with federal legislation, and therefore can’t work. He is only half right.
Our “HST Extinguishment Act” will recind the Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination Agreement (CITCA) that BC signed with Ottawa. That means the HST legislation passed by Ottawa will be effectively voided, since the CITCA agreement requires the valid authority of British Columbia to stand in both BC and Ottawa. Once that authority is recinded by BC, the agreement is no longer valid, and the federal government would not be able to legally collect a “harmonized” sales tax in BC anymore. In other words, it would no longer be a “harmonized” sales tax collected with provincial agreement, it would only be a federal tax. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: British Columbia, canadian constitution, citizen initiative, coordination agreement, excise tax act, federal excise tax, federal government, federal legislation, federal tax, GST, harmonized sales tax, last time, moot point, ottawa, percentages, prime minister, provincial legislatures, sales tax, tax coordination, taxing authority
