Response Letter from a BC Citizen to the Governor General of Canada re: #HST
Dec 5, 2009 Letters
4 December, 2009
Rt. Hon. Michaelle Jean
Governor-General of Canada
Rideau Hall
1 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A1
Madam:
As a citizen of Canada, with all of the rights – and responsibilities – attached thereto, I am writing to express my consternation at the reply provided, on your behalf, to former premier of British Columbia, William Vander Zalm.
As I hope you have been made aware, although they have not been allowed the courtesy of a referendum, a resounding majority of British Columbians are opposed to imposition of a harmonized sales tax in the province - the HST.
This is not a simple opposition to any tax reaction; thousands of small businesses and poor to middle-class citizens will suffer under seven percent increase in costs of products and services not previously subjected to a provincial sales tax.
Accordingly, Mr. Vander Zalm wrote to you in the hope – and in our expectation – that you would take steps to determine whether the lock-step plans of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia, are legal and appropriate under the Constitution of Canada.
As I read a copy of his letter to you, Mr. Vander Zalm was not asking that you take a position on the tax per se.
Rather, you were asked to determine whether the appropriate constitutional divisions of power are being respected. If they are not, then in my opinion, and in the opinion of many others the tax would be illegal.
With respect for the position you hold, nothing in your reply indicates any concern on your part as to the serious implications underlying the Vander Zalm question.
That leads me to ask with reluctance: If you do not reside at Rideau Hall for the purpose of ensuring that the Constitution of Canada is upheld, what other justification is there to continue with a figurehead tradition?
In closing, I ask that you reconsider your off-hand response to a most serious petition, and provide Mr. Vander Zalm with an in-depth opinion on the questions he asked on behalf of many, many thousands of British Columbians.
It would also be much appreciated if you would confirm that you, personally, have seen and read both Mr. Vander Zalm’s petition and this emailed letter.
Yours truly,
Elizabeth James
North Vancouver
Tags: british columbians, class citizens, consternation, constitution of canada, gordon campbell, governor general of canada, harmonized sales tax, HST, michaelle jean governor general, ottawa ontario, premier of british columbia, prime minister stephen harper, provincial sales tax, resounding majority, rideau hall, rights and responsibilities, stephen harper, sussex drive
PRESS RELEASE: GOVERNOR GENERAL RESPONDS TO VANDER ZALM REQUEST TO CHECK CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY OF #HST
Dec 4, 2009 Press Release
December 4, 2009
GOVERNOR GENERAL RESPONDS TO VANDER ZALM REQUEST TO CHECK CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY OF HST
Her Excellency, Michaelle Jean, Says She Wants No Part of It
Delta, BC – In a reply that came at ‘warp speed’ as Mr. Scott used to say on Star Trek, Canada’s Governor General, Michaelle Jean, told former BC Premier Bill Vander Zalm and his Fight HST group that she wanted nothing to do with the issue of whether the Campbell and Harper governments had overstepped their constitutional bounds in creating an HST in BC.
Following is the reply from her office, received at 5:18am PST (8:18am EST) on December 3, less than 18 minutes after receiving Mr. Vander Zalm’s request:
Dear Mr. Vander Zalm,
On behalf of Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, I am responding to your email.
While the Governor General appreciates your concerns, she feels that this issue would be best addressed by the Government of British Columbia. I understand from your letter that you have already contacted the Honourable Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia, which was the appropriate step to take.
I wish you the very best. Thank you for writing.
Yours sincerely,
Antoine Morin – INFO
Rideau Hall
1 Sussex Drive / 1, promenade Sussex
Ottawa (Ontario) K1A 0A1
Vander Zalm points out that Jean, the 27th Governor General of Canada, has very few actual responsibilities. However, one of them is giving “Royal Assent” to all laws and bills passed by the Parliament of Canada.
Royal Asset is the process by which the Governor General gives the seal of approval to all legislation with her signature. It is the final step in the enactment of all laws. Vander Zalm’s request to her was simple – tell the people of BC whether or not the legislation creating an HST in BC is Constitutionally legal or not.
“I guess we found out that the Governor General either doesn’t know what she is signing on a daily basis, or doesn’t care. Her response indicates it is just too much trouble for her to determine if anything she proclaims into law actually follows the Constitution or not,” said Vander Zalm.
“I’d like to know what she would do if Parliament, as it once did, declared women not persons again and took away their voting rights in a piece of legislation? Would an issue like that also be too burdensome to determine whether it was legal or not?” Vander Zalm asked rhetorically.
“We weren’t asking her to take control of the government, just to do her duty and ensure the Constitutional rights of Canadians were not being trampled. Referring us back to the trampler to get restitution is like asking a murder victim to take it up with their killer. This is a total joke and if the Governor General won’t do her duty, what is she there for?”
“Maybe it’s time we got rid of her altogether. I have never seen such a useless waste of taxpayer’s dollars in all my political life,” concluded Vander Zalm.
Vander Zalm says his group is committed to using the Citizen Initiative process to repeal the Agreement between the Governments of BC and Canada to create an HST in BC. He said he will launch the application for the petition in the New Year, with signature collection to take place in March, April and May of 2010.
Tags: antoine morin, bill vander zalm, constitutional authority, daily basis, gordon campbell, government of british columbia, governor general michaelle jean, governor general of canada, ottawa ontario, parliament of canada, premier of british columbia, rideau hall, right honourable, royal assent, seal of approval, sussex drive, warp speed
