It’s actually hard not to laugh! But really, we should be crying.
Finance Minister Colin Hansen stood before the cameras and told British Columbians he had no idea his own Finance Ministry officials were holding extensive discussions with federal counterparts in Ottawa on the HST in March, 2009 … a few months before the provincial election.
“I was actually surprised when I read through this just how much back and forth there is at the officials level,” Hansen told reporters Wednesday.
“THIS” referred to the release earlier in the day ( after an $800 Freedom of Information media application) of reams of heavily-censored government documents that still clearly showed BC and Ottawa were talking HST … even though Premier Gordon Campbell and Hansen have said the subject wasn’t even “on the radar” before the election.
They must have had a teeny, weeny radar screen!
I personally have no plans to buy a new car in the next six months … not on my radar screen: so I’m not discussing it with any car dealers. I’m not thinking of moving to a new home in the coming year: so I haven’t been chatting up the possibilities up with any realtors. I ’m not even thinking of booking a trip to Antarctica: so I haven’t been looking at how much it would cost.
Get my point?
Why would provincial officials … already burdened down with loads of work and studies and research and fiscal projects … waste their precious time going back and forth and back and forth with Ottawa on a matter not even being considered for B.C.? And they didn’t tell the minister what they were doing or what they were finding out?
It stinks.
And adding to the smell is the fact that many parts of the released government to government exchanges are whited out … denying the public the full story. Hmmm! That makes it all worse in my view.
If Hansen and Campbell have any sense of decency or any concern at all for the integrity of BC’s political process in relation to the whole HST debacle, they MUST release ALL the relevant HST exchanges with Ottawa, complete with the censored portions restored.
Their failure to do so will only increase the public’s suspicions and dismay about what those deleted parts might say.
At least by seeing them all …we’ll know whether we should be laughing or crying at the current political theatre playing out in the province.
Harv Oberfeld
23 responses so far ↓
1 Lynn2 // Sep 2, 2010 at 3:56 am
How desperate was the Liberal government for the $1.6 billion from the federal government that they were willing to hurt BC’s economy for years to come ?
There is lots more to come in this sad story of government lies and incompetence.
(Response: Well, these fiscal management experts have taken the BC debt from $22 Billion two years ago to $30 Billion now. I can only imagine what the MSM would be doing if the NDP did that!
h.o.
2 Ruraidh // Sep 2, 2010 at 4:08 am
We have had in the past in B.C., premiers and senior cabinet members resign not to save their political lives (they were already tarnished) but to preserve the democratic system we live in.
It is a mark of a politician/statesman that they have the capacity to discern the personal arena from the collective arena. Campbell and Hansen seem to lack that capacity.
After the revelations today, unless Campbell and Hansen resign from office, they might well have done far more damage in reverse to B.C. than the HST is alleged to have done in the other direction.
(Response: I think more than Campbell it’s Hansen who should be considering resigning…. he apparently didnt know what was going on in his own ministry ..or deceived the House when he was asked about whether there were discussions gonig on with Ottawa! h.o)
3 Stuart // Sep 2, 2010 at 4:23 am
These guys are beyond pathetic. I know the recall campaign will be extremely difficult, but really what other choice are they leaving us? Honestly, if these characters had any integrity they would have resigned months ago.
4 Leah // Sep 2, 2010 at 4:29 am
100% agreement with you Harvey! If what you suggest is not done, there may well be a reversal of fortunes for the Liberals – and a repeat of the situation with 2 vs. 77.
It will be interesting to see which 2 duly elected Liberals will be denied Official Opposition a la Joy and Jenny.
Now, that would amuse me to no end.
5 Alex // Sep 2, 2010 at 5:15 am
Lies on top of Lies, built on more Lies , enough!!, they have to be forced out in November
6 D. M. Johnston // Sep 2, 2010 at 5:23 am
Colin Hansen is either a liar or utterly incompetent. Here we have in BC, a finance Minister who is not in control of the Finance Ministry’s bureaucrats, which we are to believe that Finance Ministry’s bureaucrats were negotiating the HST with Ottawa without the Ministers knowledge.
As Colonel Potter would say: “Horse Pucky!”
Good God man, what fools are in charge of this province anyways?
If the NDP were a party to this farce, all hell would break out, but not with the Liberals, who have a free pass with the mainstream media.
The Vancouver Sun and province – fishwrap!
CORUS Radio – best left off!
CTV & BCTV – hopeless.
The blog – the only real news outlet.
(Response: Wait til you see my blog on the Sun/Province coming up next.
h.o.
7 sue // Sep 2, 2010 at 5:28 am
Ever wonder how much the government’s HST mailers cost?
Hansen confessed to $780,000 today.
From the Vancouver Sun: http://www.vancouversun.com/spent+scrapped+mailer/3471735/story.htm
On top of the (redacted) document dump, they’re done. Stick em with a fork and turn em over.
8 Ruraidh // Sep 2, 2010 at 5:44 am
My last post on this matter.
I keep wondering if the FOI requests that are the substance of this post, are in fact pointing in the right direction.
After David Emerson left federal politics, he was appointed by Gordon Campbell as the Chair of the 9 person Premier’s Economic Advisory Council in December 2008. (does it still exist?)
The minutes of those meetings and the advice given to the premier and ministers by Emerson (no stranger to the federal scene) might make interesting reading. It is quite possible that a lot of the HST discussion and advice took place outside the government e-mail record keeping.
A question for the legislature?
9 Stan M // Sep 2, 2010 at 7:36 am
Well, call me the least surprised person around.
This thing stinks to high heaven. Normally I do not subscribe to conspiracy theories, but I think it odd that CITCA is in place for 5 years and the CD Howe Inst. says no appreciable benefit for 5 years. Funny that!!!
To heck with recall, I am calling for this government to now resign, clearly we need a general election to resolve this mess that they have created.
10 Lynn // Sep 2, 2010 at 8:57 am
Ruraidh:
I know a pathological lier. He told me this: “it isn’t a lie if you believe it”.
Leah: maybe the NDP will issue them a broom closet for an office and little in the way of a budget.
Gotta love karma.
El Gordo, The Hugkster and the PABlum: better start buffing up your resumes.
Don’t expect us to believe you when you say you don’t know what your staff is doing.
All the info is slowly coming out and WITH DATES.
STOP WITH THE LIES.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
11 crh // Sep 2, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Ironic that our so-called ‘freedom of information’, always comes back heavily redacted. This in itself should be protested loudly, but not a peep.
12 Leah // Sep 2, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Question? If you owned a large company and your accountant/comptroller decided to allow the accountants below him to negotiate a major contract that damaged your company for years to come…then denied ever knowing anything about it…would you fire him? Or the junior accountants? Or all of them?
Hansen denies knowing anything about the negotiations regarding the HST…a virtual impossibility when the briefing document is addressed to him…showing a request date of March 2nd, and a delivery date of March 12th. If he truly doesn’t/didn’t know anything about it, that means HIS staff were out of his control. It means he’s not doing his job to a reasonable standard. It means…he should be fired. All perks and pensions lost.
13 Doesn't apply to me // Sep 2, 2010 at 4:33 pm
It took 13 months to get these documents through the Freedom of Information Act, THIRTEEN MONTHS, . . . . . . . .and the documents are heavily censored.
UNFRICKN’ BELIEVABLE. . . . . . . . . . .
What other things are being hidden and how long will it take for someone else, under the FOI Act, to get these documents released?
DO WE LIVE IN A DICTATORSHIP, LIKE CUBA?
IS THIS CANADA?
IS THIS THE BRITISH COLUMBIA THAT WE ALL ARE PROUD OF?
TIME FOR GORDO TO GO.
If he were a teacher, under his rule, he would be fired for his scandalous behaviour.
If he were a judge, he would be fired for his scandalous behaviour.
If he were a worker, he would be fired for his incompetence.
IF HE DROVE DRUNK IN THIS PROVINCE HE WOULD HAVE A CRIMINAL RECORD, UNABLE TO TRAVEL INTO MANY COUNTRIES.
HE IS THE PREMIER OF A PROVINCE IN CANADA FOR FRICKN’ SAKE, AND HE IS STILL IN OFFICE.
IS HE NOT A ROLE MODEL?
EGOCENTRIC, LYING, INCOMPETENT THIEVES BELONG IN JAIL.
In my opinion, that there is an unbelievable Ponzi scheme being played out and we British Columbians are going to be in receipt of the outcome.
The tax collected from us will pay for the few new people to be employed with minimum wage. We will be paying their wage.
Meanwhile the big bosses in the big companies from whatever country they are from, will be giving themselves raises and laughing at our stupidity.
And when they are finished with us, they will move out and move on with ALL OUR MONEY.
THIRTEEN FRICKN’ MONTHS. UNBELIEVABLE.
14 sunshine coast girl // Sep 2, 2010 at 6:02 pm
“If Hansen and Campbell have any sense of decency or any concern at all for the integrity of BC’s political process in relation to the whole HST debacle” they would both resign. Failure to do so will leave the BC Liberal Party’s legacy as the first government to be kicked out due to recall campaigns in Canada. I also believe it will decimate the Party.
It’s hard to believe that there is not one Liberal MLA who is feeling betrayed about being lied to regarding the HST by their own leader! They’ve been in their communities for 16 months defending the decision and facing derision and cynicism and now this?? Wonder what the heck Huggie and Gordo have on them that stops them from quitting….surely there has to be at least one person of character and morals in that group!
(Response: Any party can have members/leaders who come under attack and while support for colleagues under attack can sometimes be a noble trait, but I believe failure to speak up in the face of overwhelming evidence of deceit and dishonesty renders the silent …especially those elected to do the right thing … as unworthy of their office. h.o)
15 Curt // Sep 2, 2010 at 6:13 pm
As a previous government employee, we certainly didn’t do anything at the bottom unless it came from instruction up the ladder. Having worked closely with managers, they also would follow orders from the top. So this is another “lie.”
16 Ian // Sep 2, 2010 at 6:56 pm
The first Liberal insider has gone on record calling for Hansen’s resignation. I’ve posted about it on my blog, therealstory.ca
17 Mike Cleaver // Sep 2, 2010 at 11:35 pm
These two clowns should resign.
Both obviously have no ethics at all.
Campbell lies and drives drunk and says any other legislators who do so should resign.
So, you buffoons, lead by example!
Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out to those megabuck corporate jobs waiting for you at your political bribe suppliers.
18 sue // Sep 3, 2010 at 2:51 am
The Liberal insider who called for Hansen’s resignation has wimped out and apologized.
Which isn’t going down too well with the editor of the local Langley paper, The Langley Advance (Jordan Bateman, Liberal insider, in a former life worked for The Langley Advance).
A must read: http://communities.canada.com/vannet/blogs/editorsnotes/archive/2010/09/02/the-media-did-it-it-s-our-fault-sorry-jordo-mea-culpa.aspx
(Response: Interesting that the Liberal MLAs are more loyal to Campbell and Hansen than their party’s best interests or the people of BC. To stay silent in the face of all we know now is inexcusable. h.o)
19 Crankypants // Sep 3, 2010 at 5:59 am
If anyone is interested in a little insightful article on how governments go about changing legislation and the time it takes, go to http://the canadian.org and read Rafe Mair’s experience during his time in office. His rendition of timelines sound much more plausible than those of Hansen, Campbell and any of their apologists.
As a matter of fact there are some other interesting articles on BC Hydro and IPPs on this sight as well.
20 kootcoot // Sep 3, 2010 at 4:17 pm
The money quote:
“It stinks.“
21 Angrygranny // Sep 3, 2010 at 6:13 pm
The FOI documents, were misread. Back to square one.
(Response: And apparently the Minister didn’t read his own briefing notes! But admits he did see them. Weren’t they then “on the radar”? No wonder the ship of state has hit that iceberg.
h.o.
22 Kam Lee // Sep 3, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Harv, great read! I would like to suggest that any Liberal, who is in government, should step down. Problem solved. (Edited..h.o) Then they could be the official opposition. LOL, what a scam. Remember the Vancouver Stock Exchange? Many of the lieberal friends were there. Hmmm. it’s gone too. Like the Lieberals should be!
23 AlphonseQ // Sep 4, 2010 at 5:34 am
I am conservative, and did not vote last time, there was no good choice at the time. I dont typically lurk or contribute to these blogs. If even just one Liberal is successfully recalled Vanderzalm will have erased all memory of his Negative legacy left behind during his stint in Government and will be remebered as a champion of democracy. Cambell will have the dubious legacy of bring this whole mess on, what surprises me, it seems he does not care. As some one who stopped voting I will definately sign a recall petition. I suspect many others who have stopped voting tagged as apathetic will rise and sign… November will be interesting…
(Response: I think most British Columbians feel like you do. It crosses party lines …we must protect the integrity and honesty of our democratic system, and send out a message clear and loud: we will NOT tolerate being lied to, deceived and taken for fools. Whichever party is in power. h.o)
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