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REMEMBER THE GST? Fool us once, shame on you . . . fool us twice, SHAME ON BC!
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Court Update & Financial Report for the Initiative petition

We have completed and submitted our Financial Report for the Initiative petition to Elections BC on July 23. Once it has been reviewed and approved by them, we will post it on our web site for all to see. (Sneak preview: We were able to do the entire petition for less than the total of $50K cash that we raised - a testament to the generosity of so many people who helped by contributing their own resources too!)

We will also publish a Financial Report on our web site for the HST Legal Challenge in the coming weeks. We are still in need of funds to cover all of our expenses for the challenge. We are talking to numerous businesses and labour groups to see if they will support us as well. Some have indicated a willingness to help, and we are hopeful that we can spread the sacrifice around as much as possible.

However, if you have not donated yet and would like to help our court challenge, we are still in need of another $30,000 to cover this fight.

Donations can be made on-line at: www.fighthst.com/donation/ using credit card or pay pal.

You can also send a cheque to:

HST Legal Challenge
370 East Broadway
PO Box 95023
Vancouver, BC
V5T 4T8

There is no limit to how much one can donate or how much we can raise, as the court challenge is outside the Initiative Act. Any amount you wish to send will be greatly appreciated and will help spread the burden. Also, donations can be made completely anonymously, since no public reporting is required.

We have raised over $20,000 so far from individual supporters for our court challenge! A big thank you to all those who have contributed!!

Our court hearing is slated for August 16 in the BC Supreme Court. Our lawyers have done an incredible job preparing for the case. Our primary argument is that the HST was not legally constituted in BC, because the finance minister simply created it through an Order in Council stroke of the pen, rather than obtaining legislature approval. In every other province that implemented the HST, the MLAs voted to pass the agreement with the federal government, but not here in BC.

In the case of the business group challenge to the legality of the petition, our argument is that the legislation attached to the petition was approved by Elections BC lawyers, and meets the dual tests of clarity and jurisdiction. As well, the intent is clear – to repeal the HST, and that any amendments necessary to the Bill can be made by the legislature as required to give effect to it.

The petition counting continues apace, and so far, not one riding has fallen below the threshold. Again, congratulations to all our diligent canvassers, captains and RO’s for such a thorough job! And special thanks to Patti and our observer team for overseeing the process! We expect the petition to be validated by August 11.

Anyone who wishes to attend the court hearing in our fight against the HST may do so at:

BC Supreme Court
800 Smithe Street, Vancouver
604-660-2853
Date: August 16, 2010
Time: 10:00am
Hearing Room: TBA

Again, thank you for your contributions, and for your moral support as well. We can only win this fight by being united against the tax.

Together, we will defeat the HST!

Bill Vander Zalm

Leader, Fight HST

An explanation for the “RIVERS” system used by EBC to count your signatures

How does RIVERS work?

The RIVERS system was developed in 1996-7 after the Recall and Initiative Act was passed in 1995.  The system has been successfully used several times in previous initiatives and recalls; it is well tested.

In brief, the system runs automated matching routines to match petition line data (name and address) with voter records from the Electoral Information System (EIS).  Each petition sheet is data entered before any matching takes place.  Each petition sheet is also scanned as an image, so it can be displayed in RIVERS and provide the operator with a visual reference to assist in determining possible matches to avoid repeated handling of the petition sheets.

Read the rest of this entry »

Press Release: Fight HST requests RCMP investigate BC Government HST web site

Vander Zalm: Elections BC will not hold government to account for violating Initiative Act, so we must.

Delta – Fight HST leader, Bill Vander Zalm, says he has asked the RCMP to conduct a formal investigation into a BC Government web site promoting the HST, after Elections BC refused to act on a complaint filed by his Fight HST team.

Vander Zalm says the BC Government is operating a web site promoting the HST that is clearly designed to counter the anti-HST petition.

The site link: http://hst.blog.gov.bc.ca/2010/03/31/view-all-videos/ contains a series of recently produced video advertisements designed to discredit the Initiative proponent.

Vander Zalm says the videos contravene the Initiative Act, as follows:

Read the rest of this entry »

PRESS RELEASE: Petition reaches 10% in all 85 ridings 600,000 signatures province-wide, 71 ridings pass 15%

Fight HST petition reaches 10% requirement in all 85 ridings

600,000 signatures province-wide, 71 ridings pass 15% or greater threshold, including Vancouver Quilchena.

Vander Zalm calls on Premier Campbell to conduct a “free vote” to repeal HST

Port Coquitlam – Fight HST lead organizer, Chris Delaney, says the petition to repeal the HST broke 600,000 signatures province wide this past weekend, and crossed the 10% minimum signature threshold in all 85 electoral districts. He says 71 ridings have hit 15% or better, including Finance Minister Hansen’s own riding of Vancouver Quilchena.

Delaney says organizers are on track to achieve 15% or more signatures in the remaining 14 ridings by the end of next week. “This report represents only 70 of 85 ridings, with a number of ridings not reporting this week, and others still tabulating results from the weekend. We should make our internal 15% target in all ridings by the first or second week of June.”

Read the rest of this entry »

PRESS RELEASE: INTERNET PROVIDERS MANIPULATED BY FIGHT HST OPPONENTS

Vander Zalm says his group’s emails were blocked

Delta – Former BC premier and Fight HST leader, Bill Vander Zalm, says some internet providers are being used by opponents of his group to try to thwart his efforts to communicate and organize volunteers for the Citizen Initiative petition to end the HST in BC.

In a correspondence with Shaw Internet, Vander Zalm says it was confirmed to his group that Fight HST’s messages were being flagged as spam, and stopped from delivery as a result of complaints by some people receiving them.

“We believe these servers are being used by Liberal infiltrators to our campaign who are complaining about “unsolicited” messages sent by Fight HST. But this is not possible, since our communiqués only go out to media, MLA’s, MP’s and those people who have contacted us and requested they be included,” explained Vander Zalm.

The Initiative Act requires opponents of a Citizen Initiative to officially register with Elections BC in order to ensure a fair and level playing field in the process of carrying out the Initiative. Vander Zalm says people using their internet provider to act as a de-facto opponent is a political dirty trick that attempts to do an end run around the law.

“Hundreds of our volunteers have not received important information about registering with Elections BC as canvassers, or about how to conduct the canvassing according to the Initiative Act regulations. How can we comply with the law if an internet provider stops us from doing so?” Vander Zalm asked.

Vander Zalm says after much back and forth, Shaw has lifted the filter on Fight HST’s messages.

“We are grateful for their cooperation now, but concerned about this kind of thing happening again, and about who is doing it. If we weren’t so busy getting the thousands of volunteers we have registered with Elections BC, we would investigate it.”

Vander Zalm says he has reported the abuse to Anton Boegman and Nola Western at Elections BC, two of the key officials charged with enforcing the Initiative legislation.

“We want to make sure they are aware, so that if this happens again, they can investigate to see if any action is warranted. The Initiative Act is clear: all opponents must be registered with Elections BC and must operate according to the guidelines that apply to all.”

“I call on Premier Campbell to condemn such tactics, and to endorse a clean and fair process regarding the petition so British Columbians can be certain it is being conducted according to the rules,” Vander Zalm concluded.

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

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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

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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

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