The Hook

My God, what is happening to

My God, what is happening to democracy when some lousy 700,000, unwashed citizens can just go and vote against a government representing the most prominent and important corporate mafia ? I mean associations.

Ed Deak.

Remember This Date

It is the end of the BC Liberals and now their demise is even clearer. Regardless of what party you voted for Campbell and Co are toast. The majority of voters agree. We the people (via the courts) have won a democratic victory today with this ruling. Finally some common sense, it's too bad that this issue has turned into a "us vs them" scenario. This entire political debacle might have been avoided if Campbell and Co. just told the truth prior to the last election. Recall is coming people the BC Liberals must be removed from office mainly because of the HST issue but there are many more reasons to not vote for these turkeys again ever period. As for trying to stop the anti-hst movement this (as proven by the court this week) is futile. Thanks to this judge for restoring some of my faith in democracy.

Big business, the owners of

Big business, the owners of the BC Libs and the federal CRAPP/Conservatives, are not going to stand by like limp noodles to allow their greatest opportunity slip by to take over BC and Canada completely under a "beneficial" corporate dictatorship, called "freedom".

This whole present debacle could easily be a planned effort to come up with a new name for the same gang, with a new leader and the public will fall for it once again to keep our wealth creating investors happy.

They have about 2 years to get into high gear and they know exactly what to do, all according to long established patterns.

Meanwhile the BCLibs are still the government that gives them dictatorial powers to sell off much of BC and to prepare for the complete takeover by their long chosen successors.

Watch for the beginning of a huge blackmail/propaganda campaign, sometime next year, threatening BC with all kinds of horrible and job losses if the public dares to elect the NDP.

These guys are pros and have all the weapons for total colonization in their hands, beginning with the economics departments of all universities as propaganda machines.

Ed Deak.

Politics and Crime are one in the same

I watched the Godfather last night and couldn't help but get a kick out of a couple of the lines as Godfather says going corporate helped keep government out of their business. Mafia leader also said he went legitimate so he wouldn't have to do crime but the higher up he got the dirtier the game and the real corruption was with the guys on top. Now that is ironic for sure as here in BC business and government seem to be sealed at the hip.
This is wonderful news for sure and helps restore some of my faith in the justice system in BC and its a also a major win for Democracy, right on.

Fiat lux

The people of BC will go for Recall and will have their rightfull say as many are certain the last election was full of dirty tricks as Kash Heed is another MLA whose campaign was full of dirty tricks. The recall will have all the money and support it will need leaving the Liberals in parties rightful place, without enough seats to be office because party is such a disgrace.

Keith Baldrey.....

Confirmed today on CKNW at about 9:07 am that Gordon Campbell won`t open the legislature until 2011....And as for paying back Ottawa the HST bribe money ....

The answer is in this story here...

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2010/08/keith-baldrey-confirms-that-gordon.html

Contempt and arrogance

Contempt and arrogance will only get you so far...eventually the chickens come home to roost.

I expect Campbell's frenetic job search will continue and accelerate...the rats are going to start leaving the sinking ship.

This isn't going to be pretty.

more....The recall

more....The recall legislation has been designed to fail.

It will take 40% of the registered voters in a riding to force a recall and there's no way to raise that number when hardly more than 40% vote for both parties to begin with.

The Libs know exactly what they're doing.

The difference between the criminal and the corporate mafia is that the original mafia controls illegal substances, while the legal one controls the economy. With the cooperation of the governments and the scriptural licence by professors of economics.

E.g. look up the control corporations like Cargill and Monsanto have on the world's food supply. In the name of "free enterprise" and "competition" of course.

Ed Deak.

Not done

Enjoy this victory as it was earned. Our work is not however done. I have to admit I have asked my wife to search for more reasonable places on this planet to live as I am truly losing faith in Canada. Why should i give these people my taxes if all they do is mistreat us. This ruling has changed my perspective. If it has yours. Nows the time to go from a whisper to a scream! Lets take our country back.
Jason

Excellent Result

Wow! And way-to-go BCers.

Also, I'm rather surprised and pleased to see that not all BC judges are nesting comfortably in Il Duce Campbell's and Big Biz's golden excelsior lined pockets.

Ed said:

I kind of hate to do it, but I really have to agree with Ed on this. I just cannot see more than 15% at best, never mind 40%, of the provincial populace getting off their lazy, complacent, and over-entertained asses and working toward recall.

Not to mention the rather frighteningly high number of neo-con morons who actually like Il Duce and his contemptible clan.

And a further not-to-mention, who is there to take the place of anyone who gets recalled? None too many healthy fish in that polluted stream.

I think Ed....drastic change

I think Ed....drastic change is on the horizon. Long overdue. Speculation on voting turnouts given this victory would be foolish! Its obvious with someone taking the charge, change can be implemented. Im just not sure yet what Vanders real angle is. In the meantime. I will be budgeting my money closely and avoiding HST until Gordo opens the floods gates in 2011. I just hope he savours his last days. Indeed they are.

Recall

If the legislature is not reconvened immediately; I vote to initiate recall petitions immediately. We need to get started now as these corporate scum will do everything to stop the success of the petition and Campbell and Co. will do everything, under cover, to assist them.

Grania question

I for one will sign. How do we get started?

masters of deception

Quote:

"This whole present debacle could easily be a planned effort to come up with a new name for the same gang, with a new leader and the public will fall for it once again to keep our wealth creating investors happy."

Fiat Lux makes some very good points in his comments above.

It is important that we stay on guard.....

Corporate Liberals

Another democratic win. Campbell should have debated and held a vote over the the HST, even if it is a good tax and better than hidden taxes. Just like the cover up sends more politicians to oblivion than the crime, it was the process to implement the HST that got Campbell.

The Liberal party has always been the party controlled by the corporate boardroom, especially federally. Social Credit and the PCs were the party of small business, farmers and fishermen. BC Liberals are a combination of Liberals, PCs and SC and has gone along with the corporate boardrooms. I think the corporations were wrong to fight the HST recall. Campbell should now suspend the HST on Sept. 1 and call the legislation to debate and vote on the HST. I still like the concept and application of a combined GST and PST.

Not done - How about Gasoline?

Can we now go after the additional 10¢/L that BC charges for gasoline over all other provinces (2¢ carbon, 1¢ environment, what is the other 7¢/L for?) which increases the cost of everything.

The Stories Behind the Story

As this story continues to unfold, through many twists and turns, it's generating a lot of commentary – by the interested parties, the media, and members of the public. So far however, I think what we've heard from everyone is largely rhetoric, and largely oblivious to the real underlying issues we ought to be discussing.

I'm saying this because some years ago I started pursuing another legal case with the provincial government as a defendant, and through persistence I was able to learn how the legitimate legislative process has been abused and corrupted. And not just by the current Premier and his associates. This is a problem with a very long history.

How did we end up on this occasion with a question that only the Chief Justice of our provincial Supreme Court was qualified to answer? Why the Chief Justice and not some other Supreme Court judge? Is this man uniquely the equal in wisdom to the Pope?

This is theater. There may indeed be some specific consequences for some people, but I suspect the main agenda is to keep the public distracted from asking more probing questions.

One can read the Hansard records to see how the Legislature debates legislation, but the MLAs on both sides of the House are not really legislators. Rarely do any of them participate in conceiving or drafting any legislation. Few of them have the confidence to even want to get involved in formulating legislation. They are rubber-stampers. There's much more to the process than is revealed in the Hansard.

One place to start is with the Legislative Counsel Office (LCO). This agency specializes in legislative drafting, a discipline that is not unique to B.C. and that has a considerable and well documented history, the first such office having been created for Britain's parliament in the 19th Century. In fact, B.C.'s Chief Legislative Counsel is Vice President of an organization called the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel, and there is much to be learned from the material on the CALC website (which, as the URL indicates, is hosted on a server in Canberra, Australia).

Another place to start is by reading an excellent introductory text, “Legislation Made Easy”, that was written by one of the LCO staff. It is listed in the catalogue of the Legislative Library and can be purchased for about $10. (Since many items in the LLBC catalogue can now be accessed online, I don't know why this one cannot.)

masters of deception - 2

Good point Lynn.
Remember the BC Socreds' reputation was destroyed so the right-wingers needed a new place to perch. The BC Liberals were the best choice and affair with the leader was pumped for all it was worth in the MSM so they could get a new leader, Gordo. They didn't win the election however because they didn't slag the NDP enough and they said they would sell BC Rail.

... Behind the Story ... contd.

These two resources are among those I have used to gain a fairly comprehensive understanding of the entire legislative process, and that is why I am able to say that the HST story is unique only in that it has become the subject of a dispute that has engaged the public. If we knew more about how all legislation is developed and enacted we would find that the system invites abuse. It is probably fair to say that most legislation is conceived and drafted to benefit specific privileged interests, not the public interest. We ought to understand in every case which interests are being served and how they are granted a voice in the process.

That's one of the things I hoped to achieve by initiating a tort action against the B.C. government in 2007, but a Supreme Court judge tossed it out (on summary judgement), and declared my action to be frivolous and vexatious and an abuse of the court's process. I then tried to get at the same archived records through an FOI action. That one was dismissed by the OIPC, which accepted the Chief Legislative Counsel's claim that the records are subject to solicitor client privilege (an assertion that I say is absurd). And so on it goes. I now have the option of challenging that result through … judicial review. Would I get Chief Justice Robert Bauman to deliberate on that one do you suppose?

If you want to know what's going on in Victoria it's a lifetime commitment.

Sask Resident

I assume your history of the BC Libs is because you're in Saskatchewan and not because you're a Harper supporter?

The BC Libs are simply the old Conservatives and Socreds with a new name.

Almost all federal Liberals in BC vote NDP provincially and have for decades. The only Liberals that actually vote for the BC Liberals are so-called "Blue Liberals" such as the commenters "Luke Skywalker" and "Wilfrid Laurier".

Its not a coincidence that the office of Barry Penner, a BC Liberal MLA can be found next door to Chuck Strahl, a federal Conservative MP.

Cariboo Chilcotin riding had over 30%

of ALL registered voters sign the petition.

"Ed said:

Quote:

It will take 40% of the registered voters in a riding to force a recall and there's no way to raise that number when hardly more than 40% vote for both parties to begin with."

There are numbers of other ridings that had over 25%. Recall may not be as hard as you think it is.

Where to now?

I guess Campbell has no one to hide behind and do his dirty work for him now. I wonder where it will go from here? Just cancel the sitting of the legislature until next spring? Longer? Nothing surprises me anymore.

Maybe

Maybe there will be another meeting on Savary Island!

When the couple hundred folks who run everything in this province - and pull the CEO's chain as necessary - get the sense they might be losing control they like to get together and brainstorm.

I expect the waning days of summer will be a good time for strategizing.

Democracy

Those golf-club memberships and massage fees don't look so bad now. Maybe this tax will come off. Cappuccinos and really excellent dinners will stay attractive.

The people have spoken.

There certainly will have to be some cuts. Better stop sending out those rebates to the low income people. Better start looking at reducing benefits somewhere, everywhere, because the feds are going to want their $1.6 billion back.

GRANIA

You said: 'If the legislature is not reconvened immediately; I vote to initiate recall petitions immediately.'
I vote with you. Strike while the iron is hot.