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
PRESS RELEASE: VANDER ZALM APPEALS TO GOVERNOR GENERAL TO STOP HST FROM PROCEEDING
Dec 3, 2009 Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 3, 2009
VANDER ZALM APPEALS TO GOVERNOR GENERAL TO STOP HST FROM PROCEEDING
Says Legislation Handing Control of Direct Taxation in BC to Federal Government is Unconstitutional
Delta, BC – Fight HST Leader and former BC Premier, Bill Vander Zalm, has issued a letter to the Governor General of Canada, the Rt. Honourable Michaelle Jean, asking her to withhold Royal Assent for the HST legislation when it comes to her desk.
Vander Zalm has appealed to the Governor General to first refer the federal HST Legislation to Queen Elizabeth II for a constitutional determination on the legality of the Federal Government unilaterally removing BC’s constitutionally “exclusive” taxation authority over BC sales taxes without a Constitutional amendment and subsequent approval by the BC Legislature.
Vander Zalm says he believes both the province and Ottawa are acting outside the scope of their powers. “Section 92 of the Constitution Act 1867 clearly stipulates that only the provincial legislatures have the jurisdiction to make laws concerning the raising of a revenue via direct taxation for provincial purposes in Canada, exclusive of the Federal Government.”
“If the Constitution spells this out, there is a reason for it. It is there to make clear what the powers of the provinces are versus the federal government. Since any government is only a temporary holder of authority under our Constitution, we believe that authority is not transferable without a Constitutional amendment followed by legislative approval by the BC Legislature.”
In the case of the HST, that power will be transferred by a unilateral Act of Parliament, and will not be debated, voted on, or ratified by the BC Legislature.
Vander Zalm says that the powers of BC are not like the exclusive ownership of a right or property of an individual. He says they are held in trust for the people of BC and for successive governments who will come after the current office holders.
Vander Zalm says that if BC’s powers are transferable without Legislative or Constitutional approval, then they are not “exclusive” as the Constitution stipulates, and it means everything is up for grabs. He says it would mean the Feds could negotiate harmonization of income taxes, resource ownership, provincial crown land and other provincial powers in an endless list.
“All it would take, according to Gordon Campbell and Stephen Harper, is a poorly worded side deal, drafted by power hungry bureaucrats, and signed by our Finance Minister, to forever remove the powers of our province.”
“It is unbelievable that Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen think they can make law in BC without Legislative approval. Campbell has become a total dictator!” Vander Zalm charged.
“We can’t believe that is the intention of our Constitution, so we have asked the Governor General to refer the matter to the Queen, as Sovereign of Canada, for her determination.”
Vander Zalm says he and his umbrella group, Fight HST eagerly await the Governor General’s response so that British Columbians can be certain that what has been proposed is legal. If not, he says, the governments of BC and Canada will be forced to tear up the HST Agreement.
Tags: act of parliament, bc legislature, bc premier, bill vander zalm, constitution act 1867, constitutional amendment, current office, governor general of canada, HST, legislative approval, letter to the governor, michaelle jean, provincial legislatures, queen elizabeth, queen elizabeth ii, royal assent, sales taxes
