Keeping it Real…

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

BC’s Liberals are wearing the shame and rejection of BC voters over the HST … especially the timing and the way it was introduced.  And on Sept. 8th, the legislative committee will at last start dealing with the petition signed by more than 700,000 British Columbians calling for repeal of the hated tax.

I’m sure there are many, many more who also want the tax repealed or who did not like the way the government brought it in.  Even those who believe the tax shift resulting from the HST is good in the long run for BC’s economy probably disliked Premier Gordon Campbell and Finance Minister Colin Hansen’s handling of the issue.

So there are lots of calls for recall and send the &%#*’s packing.

But the real question surrounding the HST is whether a change of government …to ANY party… would really change anything.

As far as I can determine, the BC NDP has NEVER said it would get rid of the tax.  It has, in my view,  slid around the issue … supporting the petition, some members saying the tax should be repealed, others suggesting it be renegotiated .. but what we need is: a clearly stated party policy enunciated by leader Carol James on WHETHER the NDP would get rid of the tax; when; and what would replace it????

The BC Conservative Party can’t seem to make up its mind. Time for them to tell the voters where they stand.

And the Greens, from what I’ve read, FAVOR the HST … or at least some version of it.

The Liberals were definitely sleazy and deceitful the way they brought the tax in …. but they have at least been clear (after the votes were counted and they won another term in office): they believe the tax is the best way to go.

The public has a right to know CLEARLY where the Opposition parties stand.

Or are they too going to deceive the public with obfuscation and meaningless platitudes just to win public support … and then ignore the public’s wishes once they gain power?

I’m not sure our voters could stand another thumbing of the political noses at our democracy in this way.

Harv Oberfeld