Recall is a

Recall is a good option but is not enough. We the people need to do what the system seems incapable or unwilling to do and that is arrest all of the politicians that voted for or went along with the theft of BCRail. We need to make citizens arrests and set up dejure courts and put these liars and thieves on trial. If we don't I believe the theft of our commons is going to continue unabated. It is our choice for the future of our province, for future generations and for any hope of a future of not becoming total slaves to the corporate money masters. It is our duty, are we up to the challenge or do we deserve a barren province devoid of all public assets and enslaved to the corporations.

happy

Since you're splitting hairs, Bill T says they signed it. He wasn't judging whether they were in a different riding when they signed it or whether they had been a resident of BC at the time of the last election and so on.

Its not like those other 148,000 signatures were bogus people, a few may have been, but most were invalidated for a technicality. They were still "British Columbians" which is all Bill T. called them.

The Liberal MLA (that recall

The Liberal MLA (that recall campaign is starting later on this month)for the Comox Valley is doing the samething as Ida Chong. Yep, that the campaigners are all NDPers. He's got his supporters doing a letter writing blitz to the local papers with the same theme as Ms. Chong is doing. I guess the people at the 'Ministry of Spin, Truth and Enlightenment' are putting in long days.

Game Over

Signatures collected: ~ 6,000
Signatures required: ~ 15,368
Delta South Recall Validation Rate: 76%
Total Minimum Signatures Required: 20,576

So, after ~5 weeks, 6,000 signatures have been collected while another ~14,500 will need to be collected over the next ~3 weeks.

Just like another previous 19 recall petitions, it's obvious that OBGH will be failure #20.

It ain't over till the ....

It would not surprise me if the Recall forces were holding back some of the petitions until near the end. That is the way I would play it. Be that as it may it is Typical of Cool Hand an Happy to brush over the failures of the Liberal MLA and avoid the real insult to the voters in Oak Bay.

Bill lay out the case for why Ida Chong just doesn't get it the same way Happy and Cool Hand don't and he (Bill) nails it down solid.

"because recall is completely driven by the HST."

But not in MY book. As Bill T. goes on to add in the article. These recall campaigns are all about corruption, broken promises AND SUBSTANTIALLY ABOUT the NDP wanting to fight the last election's "close races" all over again. The NDP is NOT "squeaky clean" on these recall campaigns. There are several failed candidates involved and their "axe to grind" is obvious.

Clowns to the left of me; jokers to the right;

here I am stuck in the middle with ?

Don McCrae is also using the same 'wrong' arguement to defend himself during the Comox Valley recall campaign; as well as fear mongering ads!

It is NOT about the HST

I do not believe this recall campaign is about the HST. The petition against the HST WON and there is a public vote on the HST.

Just because the public vote is not what the organizers of the petition wanted, they use the time frame as an EXCUSS to fight the election over by going to recall.

Another excuss used by the organizers is that the HST is putting new construction on hold and there is less new construction happening. This is a year after the 2010 games and there would have been a reduction in constrution at this time with or without the HST.

Its about the HST

Job loses in the month of December,interest rates are still low, plenty of Chinese immigration keeping prices up as the cost of goods continues to rise and rents keep going higher while wages stay nice low.

Not about the HST of course its about the HST. And if there is more it is Chong's own doing as Oak Bay residents believe their concerns fall on Chong's deaf ears and her record of Minister is more of a lark.
http://thetyee.ca/News/2008/04/16/IdaChong/

Where are the jobs?

The HST was supposed to create employment not lose it but that is exactly what has transpired while prices continue to go up. 6000 signatures not bad during the holiday season now that is over recall can finish off the job of collecting the rest so residents get the message out the HST is not for us.
Keep warm and snuggly and thanks a great deal for taking the time to get the message out British Columbians want a government that is all ears.

morechatter

It sounds like it is about JOBS, Chinese immigration, Rents, Interest rates and a whole bunch of things besides HST.

In 40 years of being politically aware, I have never experienced a government THAT HAS EARS. They ALWAYS have their own PARTY AGENDA.

The HST was to create jobs

It was the reason given for the HST. So where are the jobs?
And I don't know where you have been in the last month but talk to a Liberal leader wanna be and they are ALL EARS!!!!

And the Chinese Immigration

Is driving up the price of real estate despite being to high for the rest of the world. The price of goods are also rising and the HST is also driving up the price of rents while wages stay low means big business is getting the tax payers money for doing nothing. No small deal as Stagflation bites at tax payers heals.

Ron_c

The money from the Feds didn't prevent cuts to health and education. It was a one-time payment, ergo, you can't fund programs with it.

As for recall, there's nothing wrong with using it to keep MLAs accountable for their promises. Let the people decide if their excuses are valid.

Price of GOODS.

GOODS always had both PST & GST (now HST), It is the SERVICES that the HST raised the tax on. SERVICES were often exempt from PST and thus the HST included the SERVICES to include the 7% PST.

The HST did not necessarilly raise the PRICE OF GOODS.

Frank

I believe without the feds injection of cash the cuts to these programs would have been much deeper. You are right in the idea that it is a one-time injection of cash. This injection hopefully get us over the shortfall in the provinces economic downturn.

When the economy rebounds so will the provinces income.

Ron_c

As has been pointed out in another article, the Liberals have increased our debt to $55.8 billion. If they didn't want to cut our health and education because of one bad year they simply would have raised the debt to $57.6 billion.

They rang up a big deficit last year regardless of the federal money. Cuts wouldn't have been forced.

Meanwhile, the HST increases taxation on the public and decreases it on business. Regardless of excuses or whatever, that's the end result. And many people are aware of that.

Frank & morechatter

You seem confussed. First you say that the HST is taking more money from the public and less money from business, then you complain about the businesses going bankrupted and going out of business.

You cannot say that this is benefiting business and then say that it is causing businesses to go out of business.

Ron_c

So you're saying the HST doesn't benefit business and doesn't take money from the public?

The government says differently. They said it will benefit business and that its revenue neutral for them meaning the benefits to business will be made up by the public.

However if you have a link with stats that shows business doesn't benefit from the switch to the HST and the public isn't hurt I'll be happy to read it.

Not getting sidetract.

The HST was about shifting taxes away from business onto consumers. It was a gift to business by the business friendly BC Liberals. Ida Chong is being recalled because she failed to listen to her constituents and even today talks about how it wasn't "sold" properly, anything but her failure to represent their wishes.

Now we can argue about who creates jobs. Consumer demand creates jobs. Business needs consumers. Maybe that is why so many are going bankrupt. Argue all you want about but if government does not create jobs then why is it that every time there are higher jobless numbers they are the fault of the NDP government but never the fault of the BC Liberal government. It is an ideological myth promoted by a bunch of greedy business interest who will never ever be satisfied until they have drained every last dollar from the consumer. And, just so they can bask in the sun in some foreign country and admire how much they accomplished on the backs of others.

Ida Chong is just one of the misguided Cqampbell lackeys.

threatening and lying to save her skin

Ida Chong is trying to scare people into not exercising their democratic rights.

Her flyer is full of lies -- including saying that the NDP is organizing recall (tell that to VanderZalm) and that canvassers might "ask you to sign the petition more than once, or sign for someone else." Her flyer uses the word "outsiders" to refer to canvassers, which shows her attitude to BC Citizens. It's all a lot of nonsense.

I'm not sure Ida Chong can even remember the truth any more. The truth was that she has been Gordon Campbell's biggest supporter and supported the HST every inch of the way. The truth is that her flyers in the last election said, "no new taxes for families."

Lastly, it is kind of weird to see her pretending to be all pathetic and weak and spreading a message that it is 'unfair' to target poor little her when she has been so hard on so many of us who have gone to her for help. She is as tough as nails unless she thinks you have people standing behind you then she acts all cute and little and helpless. But either way she still doesn't actually help.

I heard that Ida....

....is responsible for the removal of 32,000 hectares from the ALR. If so, this is grounds enough for recall. Can anyone confirm this?

Skywalker

If the voters of Oak Bay are as insulted as you claim they have a very easy solution as we speak to fix the problem.
Recall.
No ones stopping them or holding them back.
Wait and see.
Just one thing Skywalker. IF the recall fails....will you be blaming it entirely on the MSM? Again?

Greed

I and many others, regardless of what happens with the recall, will have a hard time forgetting Ida's sheer greed. Spending the FULL amount on her daily living-expenses everyday, even when at home. Going out for lunch/dinner on OUR DOLLAR. That alone shows so much disrespect for the voters.

Bad MLA's

The article says, "Chong also says recall was only designed to get rid of "bad" MLAs -- not her!"
I think this recall campaign hits that nail on the head. If she does go, it will be a shame to miss her bobbling head during Question Period.

HST is a real reason

But it really was a last straw kind of thing. They could probably have made a case for the tax, if they had been inclined to ever account for themselves about anything. Especially to us.

The HST wasn't just a lie, it was lie number 57,498 more or less. Each one of which was a gob of spit directed straight into the eyes of the people who pay the freight.

The sheer contempt the Liberals have shown the 'outsiders' (read every British Columbian not profiting from the general looting, or making big donations to Liberal coffers) has been simply staggering. It seemed quite clear that, having the strong majority they lied to get, they then figured that an electorate THAT stupid would never be able to keep a thought or a memory long enough to matter.

Or if they did, they could always be lied to again about it.

The HST is absolutely the reason for the recall movement. It's just not the only reason.

They still clearly believe that we will believe anything they say. And that truth means being believed in your lies.

recall

The recall is about everything that is going on. HST, BC Rail, cuts to our health care and education, lies and lies from the liberal and on top of all, corruption. It is wide spread and only the blindly in love with the liberals or profiting from them can't see it. It is time to recall all of them or I do believe that the people that pays all of them has the right to charge all of them of corruption. Ask the RCMP to remove all of them as a citizen arrests and investigate the eight years of stealing our money. Unless somebody has the guts to go after them, it will continue indefinetely. They are using our taxpayer money for propaganda against the recall. ENOUGH! ACTION PLEASE????

Happy.

I won't be blaming the MSM if recall fails. I blame MSM for setting up a mentality that makes the Liberals look like financial wizards when every in-depth analysis points out that they couldn't run a peanut stand. Surely you can't be that naiver that you would pretend that the MSM is doing their job like they were doing it in the 90's against the NDP. The lack of coverage of the Basi/Virk trial and the lack of comment on the the pay-out. Can you imagine the outcry if this had been done by the an NDP government?

Recall Aimed at Wrong Person

Ida Chong is right about one thing: recall was intended to enable voters to remove individual MLAs whose conduct has been especially egregious. On the HST, BC Rail, and a litany of other Liberal deceptions Chong has been no more blameworthy than any other Liberal MLA. Given the reality of party politics and responsible government, Gordon Campbell is the one who should be on the hook. Chong has been targeted only because the narrowness of her margin of victory in 2009 makes her more vulnerable to losing the by-election that will follow a successful recall effort. But judging by the low numbers to date, I doubt it will succeed. Having visited Oak Bay recently, I know that many residents are refusing to sign the petition because they regard the HST and other grievances about Liberal duplicity to be issues more properly addressed in a general election.

I'm surprised that Tielemann is taking a much broader view of the purpose of recall--namely, that it's designed to register public discontent with the policies or actions of the government as a whole. After all, that was the real rationale for the anti-NDP recall campaigns of the 1990s. E.g., Paul Ramsey and Helmut Giesbrecht were targeted by the BC Taxpayers' Fed. because of the Federation's antipathy to the NDP's fiscal policies, including the so-called Fudge-it Budget. And they were targeted because they held marginal seats. It had nothing to do with their conduct as local MLAs.

Initiative and Recall Act

Good article Bill I couldn't agree more.

The current Initiative Recall Act although flawed as it is, has been proven to work for the people by the events of last year and the ongoing recalls.

What really concerns me is that the next government whether Liberal, or NDP will attempt to severely alter the initiative act, or worse will abolish it completely, especially now that these governments have seen just how powerful a tool it can be when the people are united in a common cause.

I hope the voters of BC can see what a powerful tool they have and will realize that they must vote for a party that will enhance the current Initiative Recall act to be more effective in the hands of the people.

We should never allow this democratic tool to be taken away from us.

Gustav, but

...what has she done since finding out her constituents hate the HST? Has she spoken against it? Has she resigned like Linda Copps did over the GST? Has she said anything to distance herself from the drivers of the HST? No! No! No!. That is why.

Success or failure

I am a volunteer canvasser for the Ida Chong Recall, and proud of it. I do not belong to any party or union. I am a retiree who is sickened by the treatment of the people of BC by the Government. By ‘Government’ I specifically mean ALL of the elected MLAs.

The BC Liberals have treated the average-to-below-average income earners in this province as tax-paying serfs – and stupid, uninformed ones to boot! The NDP has not done nearly enough to fight for them.

We have been lied to, cheated, and sneered at. The HST is the proverbial “final straw.”

When Bill Vander Zalm was Premier of BC, I was almost as afraid of him then as I am of the Campbell Liberals now. I admire what Mr Vander Zalm has done to make the people of BC wake up to the blatant abuse of power in this province, but in my opinion, he should step back, and let the local organizers run their own shows. I do not think he is helping, and I know that he is turning some folks off.

If I had been asked, I would have strongly opposed the OB-GH drive starting when it did. By running it over the Christmas holidays, I think we effectively lost 8 or 10 days of campaigning/petitioning time. We had a bunch of tired, soggy, disillusioned canvassers before we were half-way there. So many people were not home, and were preoccupied. That said, whether we in OB-GH make the grade or not, the experiences and learning curve here will almost guarantee success in the battles that follow. We had to build a machine from the ground up, with no blueprints or plans. That expertise will be invaluable in the campaigns that follow.

We have a chance to set a new standard for democracy, and I think that the average British Columbian would be surprised at how much attention we are getting from around the world.

My biggest surprise to date is how successful the Liberal’s fear campaign has been. What has surprised me even more is how many people are so afraid of their own government!! People are actually afraid to sign my petition for fear that the GOVERNMENT will find some way to punish them. That amazes and depresses me.

Who do they work for, its not you or I

How about because Chong and company refuse to hold a public inquiry into the B.C. legislature raid case that suddenly ended with a guilty plea bargain by former government aides David Basi and Bob Virk after just two witnesses testified?

(If you agree a public inquiry is needed, join the new party for the people.)

BC REFED is and will change the old political system to a new system that you the voter control the elected politicians in the province of BC.

Or maybe Chong and the BC Liberals should face recall because our province has had the worst child poverty rate in Canada for seven straight years?

Homeless people unable to rent a place because the government refuses to give them enough for shelter or food, this is how these so called elected officials respond to poverty, again Chong wasted 6000 for meals, that more than a single person gets in a year for shelter and food.

These elected officials forgot what their responsibility was and for whom, the people.

Sorry, Ida, but whether recall is about the HST or your government's record, it still makes sense to fire all of you for lack of integrity and misguided endeavours.

But its time for us to control Politicians

http://www.refedbc.com

The only Party that offers real change and a future for BC and its’ citizens.

New new party for the people of BC

"If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything."

"We must, within our generation, accomplish the impossible or experience the unthinkable"

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

http://www.facebook.com/pages/BC-Refederation-Party/134506303230463?ref=ts

Ida Chong Recall

Bill Tieleman got this 100% correct and people should make it a point to sign all the recalls. The Liberals are dishonest, disreputable and dishonourable. They are not working for you the voter or taxpayer. Further, more if the recall does not succeed it will only set an example for the any future Political party that they can do whatever they want and not have answer to anyone for their deliberate dishonesty, self-serving Leadship and misrepresentation.

No NDP plot

I have been working a little on the recall campaign. I am not now and never have been a member of the NDP. (Though I have voted NDP in a number of elections, federal and provincial.) Other people working on the campaign are, to my certain knowledge, well to the right of the NDP. My limited experience indicates that people on the right of the political spectrum are particularly upset by the imposition of the HST.