Dear editor,
In the Comox Valley, discussions about the Harmonized Sales Tax and a possible recall of the local MLA who supports that tax are starting again.
People I spoke to during the holidays were very interested that the BC Liberals and the NDP will choose new leaders. They mused that wiser heads would remove the “hated sales tax.”
“The sooner the better” was a common opinion. Should a new leader of the BC Liberals choose to advance the referendum or allow a free vote in the legislature, Recall Comox Valley would not need to spend hundreds of hours organizing volunteers, and collecting and counting signatures on petitions. It’s really that simple.
However, and it’s a huge “however”, there’s absolutely no guarantee that someone like George Abbott or Christy Clark or Kevin Falcon will take any action at all on the HST. Once BC Liberal MLAs were convinced by Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen that the HST was good for their constituents — and Don McRae does actually appear to believe that — then no free vote could ever be effective in removing the tax.
Only a provincial referendum or a recall of elected MLAs can have an effect. In the meantime, restaurant owners, barbers, veterinarians, funeral directors and house renovators, to name only a few of those affected, will continue to suffer losses to their businesses.
I haven’t received one word from the NDP about my involvement in this action, encouraging or otherwise. I have not asked any of our volunteers how they voted.
I have discerned that there are people of all political stripes involved in this action (and people of all political stripes neutral or opposed). For Don McRae and his supporters to pretend that all the anger being expressed against the implementation of the HST is being driven by the NDP shows how out of touch they are with ordinary people.
After all, Bill Vander Zalm and Chris Delaney, the provincial organizers of Fight HST, have a long history of opposing the NDP. The BC Liberals could end this entire chapter in our provincial history by replacing the HST with the previous taxes, and then requiring the multinational corporations to pay their fair share.
Kathryn Askew,
Courtenay
Editor’s note: Kathryn Askew is the proponent of Recall Comox Valley.