I am amused at the ongoing mistakes the Anti-HST crowd makes. They make an error on their recall petition that others have not made in the past and are now annoyed that it has been rejected. If they had read things closely enough they would have seen their error before they submitted it.
Frankly I suspect they did this deliberately to get the petition rejected and get the public angry at the government. They seem to be doing a lot of stuff only to get media headlines even when they are pulled out of thin air or were not an issue previously.
So either they do not know what they are doing and have used no legal counsel to make sure they have done things properly, or they have done this as a media stunt. I honestly do not think they are dumb enough to have made the mistake and therefore it can only be a media stunt.
I may not agree with the recall, but I more than happy to see people try. What I am very unhappy with is the blatant and ongoing media stunts of the people opposing the HST. The recalls are only being done as publicity stunts to keep the anti-HST flame burning. Why else would they stagger them as they are and why else would they chose a Oak Bay Gordon Head where they can not win? It is as if they are worried that if they do not do that they are going to lose traction with the public and that by the time people vote in the referendum there may be a different result than they hope for.
So why choose Oak Bay Gordon Head when every political analyst will tell you that it will be impossible? Because the political media are here in Victoria and a recall campaign here gives them an excuse to moan and whine to the media about government and the process. This engineered stunt of theirs only highlights the issue.
11 comments:
I don't agree that this is a "stunt" by the anti-HST group Bernard. Rejecting the petition on the basis that "MLA" is really five words and "HST" is three is just nonsense. Also, this isn't the first "stunt" the "acting" CEO of elections BC has pulled since being installed by Campbell.
Delaying the forwarding of the petition to the legislature when it was not in his mandate to do so; firing the Deputy Chief Linda Johnston, who had earlier (rightly) refused to allow Colin Hanson to distribute the mailer we all paid for; threatening canvassers and the minuscule fraction of people who signed the petition more than once with legal action on the eve of the first campaign; and his very appointment, which violated the Election Act, are all examples of meddling by the Campbell government in what is supposed to be a "non-partisan, independent Office of the Legislature."
As for the anti-HST group staggering the recall campaigns, why shouldn't they? Do you really believe conducting multiple campaigns at the same time, during Christmas and what is predicted to be a harsh, cold winter would enhance their chances for success? If you do, you're not much of a strategist, IMO.
And as for your contention "every political analyst will tell you that (recalling Ida Chong) will be impossible, here's here's one who begs to differ.
You're right about one thing, though. Someone is playing "silly bugger." But it ain't Chris Delaney or Bill Vander Zalm.
What, Elections BC isn't holding their hands anymore and telling them how to bring down the government? Boo freaking hoo.
remember that Bill Tieleman is involved here, so I wouldn't underestimate the cynical lengths they might go to get their way. After seeing how he ran the anti BC-STV campaign I have no expectation they are trying to play to people's reason.
Are you only publishing comments that agree with you?
You raise a good point. I find it very curious how Fight HST always seems to have a convenient press release ready to fly every time something does not go the way they want it too…..almost as if on key…like they planned it that way all along.
Since you published my follow-up comment, I'll assume the first one I sent on the morning
of November 25th was simply lost in the ether, so to speak. I won't rehash the whole thing,
but simply state that no error was made by the anti-HST campaign. It has been shown elsewhere that Elections BC changed the rules
after the fact, adding the paragraph about counting acronyms such as HST as three words two
days after the application was submitted. Craig James is the one pulling "stunts," which
should not surprise us given his very appointment violated the Act he is sworn to uphold.
The other point I made was that your suggestion the anti-HST group chose Ida Chong's riding
as the first recall target because they knew it was doomed to fail is laughable, as was
your suggestion that they would some how be more effective if they spread themselves thin
by running multiple campaigns simultaneously, rather than staggering them as they intend to
do.
Will McMartin has demonstrated why Ida
Chong's riding is as good a choice as any and better than most in terms of potential for
success.
Gorden Campbell and Craig James have politicized what is supposed to be a non-partisan
entity. Delaying passing the petition to the standing committee, firing the deputy
electoral officer after she refused to allow the mailer we paid for to go out, sending
threatening letters to canvasers and the 1/3 of 1% of citizens who signed the petition more
than once and using a grafted-on-after-the-fact technicality to throw a wrench in the first
recall campaign demonstrate that, and will only serve to fuel the fire and improve the odds
for successful recall campaigns.
They will have no one to blame but themselves.
Sorry the earlier comment did not post, but it did not register on the system.
I only filter out spam and abusive comments
Mea culpa. I should have known better, as I'm certain I've read comments here in the past by people who's opinions differed from yours. Thanks for not writing me off as a crackpot.
Also, I'm not sure why my other post came out "rhyming couplet" style. Maybe something is up with my browser.
Cosmicsync - I saw it was doing that and I tried to see if I could edit it, there is no tool for me to do that. If you want to send it again, I will erase the odd looking one.
Or, I am happy to post your comments as a blog posting with more detail and links to information if you like.
ac·ro·nym
/ˈækrənɪm/ Show Spelled[ak-ruh-nim] Show IPA
–noun
1.a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of words, as Wac from Women's Army Corps, OPEC from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or loran from long-range navigation.
The recall proponents' complaints are justified in this case. Elections BC has had months to set out the rules that would be used to interpret the recall legislation. But it didn't do that until after the recall petition was submitted, which is just incompetent.
The bigger issue is the government's failure to ensure an independent chief electoral officer - selected by an all-party committee, approved by the legislature as required by law - in place when Harry Neufeld's term expired in June. They had literally years to prepare.
I have considerable respect for Craig James, but having a cabinet-appointed chief electoral officer in charge as such critical decisions are made inevitably - and unnecessarily - opens the door to allegations of conflict.
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