Deja Vu

All this was known before the last election. The question is how do you get it through the voters thick heads.

Carole James in her efforts to be nice, concentrated on health care and education, ignoring the economy and the certain election winner of buy high sell low at Hydro.

Then we got screwed by the ecofascists led by sellouts and halfwits like David Suzuki, Mark Jaccard and the Berman woman, who thought that a 6 cent a liter gas tax imposed by the province compared to the 70 cent one imposed by Big Oil was worth destroying BC's salmon, rivers, forests and ocean. This despite 2011 Gerald Loeb Award and Nobel Prize in Economics winner Paul Krugman telling us that the NDP's cap n'trade was superior to the self styled economist and sell out Jaccard's carbon tax.

With any luck Dix will have the cojones to administer a proper thrashing.

2009 budget

Were Campbell and Hansen hopelessly incompetent or dishonest, you ask. Dishonest for sure. In an article about Hansen in the Vancouver Sun printed in 2009 he was quoted as saying he was informed weekly, starting in the fall of 2008, of the steady erosion of government revenue. He then went on in the same interview(!) to claim that he was unaware of the enormous shortfall in government revenues until after the election. Such bare-faced lying was apparently met with equanimity by the Vancouver Sun journalist who appeared not to notice the inconsistency of the narrative- two opposing statements only three paragraphs apart. As much as it highlighted the outrageous lying of Mr Hansen it also exposed the sad state of journalism when a full page interview in a leading newspaper is a mere puff piece instead of a serious effort to pursue the truth.

I very much agree with Mr. Mair that...

...Indexing income taxes is the most progressive, and fairest way to go.

And I, for one, am willing to pay more on that front.

However, I cannot help but mention, only slightly tongue in cheek, that there is a way to make consumption taxes more progressive.

One way, of course, is to have exemptions on staple items that folks who are not currently well-off must buy which is what we are returning to.

The second, less discussed way, and one I imagine all those currently well-off folks in those high median income ridings who voted to keep the tax would approve of given that they voted to retain an exemption-free consumption tax.

And that is to put consumptive surcharges on luxury items.

Like, say, luxury SUVs.

.

Until people start punishing

Until people start punishing bad governments by kicking them out, they will keep getting bad governments. Even as an NDPer I have to admit that it was time for them to go in 2000. Now imagine if the voters had punished the Libs four years later by tossing them and then suppose Carole James messed up again and they'd re-elected the Libs again in 2008. Then we'd have two parties that would know, in their bones, that they better not mess up or the would be going down. And Liberal or NDP we'd have better government than we do now.

If we don't toss these Liberals out at the next chance then they'll know they can do anything, anything at all, and by golly they will. So if we toss them, as we should and must, and Adrian turns out to be a bust? Kick him out, too! He can't do nearly as much damage in four years as the Libs have done in ten. If he screws up toss him and put the Libs back, or heck maybe the Cons or the Greens.

And keep it up until all the parties know that they have to govern for all the people, not the power brokers of any stripe.

Oak Bay

I notice the only riding on the Island that voted to keep the HST was Oak Bay. I wonder why?

but the NDP...

...is led by Adrian Dix, who reminds me more of Chuck Coulson than Jack Layton. What a shame that it should be he to profit from the Liberals' demise.

P.S.

The willful ignorance about revenue in the 2009 budget was remarkably similar to the disingenuous NDP budget of 1996--except that the NDP was nearly destroyed as a result and the LIberals got off comparatively lightly

anger

This government is dishonest. This government pays people to pretend to be citizens to bully contrary opinions in the media. This government lies repeatedly. This government has no shame about taking money from British Columbians and giving it away to cronies.

This is what corruption looks like.

Party Loyalty

The HST results by riding show that the BC Liberals beat the party drum in the last few weeks to fight off the NDP hordes, who were seen to be now supporting the HST.
This still could not overcome the commonsense of the BC voters who saw the HST as a giant tax shift onto their backs so that the wealthy could keep their tax breaks given to them by Gordon Campbell.

The HST

As a business owner, I favoured the HST over GST & PST. It was easier to manage, as opposed to dealing with the arrogant SOB's at PST.

The reason I voted down the HST was CAMPBELL LIED, plain and simple.

In these days, the memory span of the masses gets shorter and shorter, so it would not be prudent to wait for a provincial election to show my disdain.

The only reason politicians treat us this way is because we let them.

I'm happy that we did not let them this time.

oh how i wish

that Crusty would call an election...and i further wish (even more) that the B.C. electorate would wake up and realise just what a batch of crooks these Liberal/Fascists are...they work for business interests pure and simple....in the B.C. Liberals we see a true example of Fascism, where State and Capitalist interests are aligned in favour of the Capitalists.

my one fear is that the voters of B.C. would vote them back in again, like they did in 2009...i have been appalled and astounded by the lower mainland voters every election since 2001, when they voted Campbell in first.

i have been unable to understand why ordinary people, in the middle and working classes would look at the Campbell (now Crusty Cluck) Liberal/fascists as a good vote....would see them as being "good" for B.C. in general...especially when they gutted the public service unions, tearing up contracts immediately upon election, being called on their third world labour practices by the U.N. even, saying what they did was illegal, unethical, and immoral....but did they listen???

i do believe however, that Crusty and her "trusty" band of thieves will likely put off an election, as long as they can...until this entire HST thing blows over, and the masses in B.C. have forgotten how pissed they were with Gordo, and Crusty, and the entire lying bunch of thugs in Government...

of course business liked the HST it's easier and cheaper for them to work with...and the public ends up shouldering the tax, as it slides off the business community onto the public backs....

expecting business to pass on the savings to us, is naive, and when the Lib/fascists claimed this porky, it was "disinformation"........ peddle whatever porkies you like to prove your point, over and over, and over and over, until hopefully, the gullible, if somewhat stupid and naive public will believe the porkies over the truth, because they can't even remember the truth, having been propagandised so much. and then have that vote....after porkie time....just long enough after porkie time, and between scandals, that they might stand a chance...

Christy won't be crazy to

Christy won't be crazy to call an election now, when sure to lose.

As far "fiscal responsibility" is concerned, the arch "conservative" Reagan put more debts ob the USA than all the previous presidents combined and this seems to be the trend under all "conservative", otherwise known as fascist, governments all over the world.

The same happened here in Canada with Mulroney and the following "fiscally responsible" governments, regardless what they called themselves.

Yet, they claim "growth" with the fraudulent accounting of the GDP, ignoring that public debt should be part of the national debt and that foreign investment is irrepayable foreign debt.

They don't have the brains to figure out that competition does not cut, but increases costs, so does globalization, and that "cheap" imports from slave labour countries are not cheaper, but more expensive, causing fiscal breakdowns and economic destruction on all sides.

Ed Deak.

From the frying pan to????

I don't like the Libs either - but what next?
We know what the NDP's last kick at the cat did. Cummins and the conservatives? People may be mad enough to try that. But it's still more of the same old brown stuff.

The first party with half a chance of winning that talks electoral reform is gonna cause a landslide!

To change to the same old dirty shorts is pointless - may as well not change at all.

ah...

I used to think is was just a matter of time before people realised that the political and economic ideology of the BC Liberals was counter to the best interests of the majority of citizens in the province however, I am not so naive any more...an election sooner rather than later will possibly result in a change of government...but it must also result in a change of ideology...and Mr Dix must deliver on the notion of democratic socialism...not being a fan of the ridiculous 'progressive' moniker....

BC Ferries

I have a theory that David Hahn will achieve privatization or destruction of BC Ferries by the time his mandate ends in 2013. His recent blame of lack of tourist dollars causing loss of revenue by BC Ferries is a cover for the fact that BC Ferries are now too expensive for a lot of local riders but it will make it easy for him to say that BC Ferries is just not viable and should be shut down or privatized.

Do most people care about

Do most people care about things like Hydro? BC Rail? BC Ferries? He kept getting re elected until he lied about HST.

I would rather wait until the May 2013 election date. That way hopefully John Cummins can get the cons support up enough so it it hurts the Liberals and with the vote split let the NDP win. :) instead of four more years with recycled social credit/BC Reform/federal reform/conservatives calling themselves liberals. More-so now the split is important as BC is becoming more and more right wing.

The fact is history tells us the NDP can only win if right wing-centre vote is split. Whether Barrett, Harcourt or G. Clark...The funny thing though is the NDP gets less popular support when they win than when they (always) lose a two party race.,,

There is a new poll coming out in September which will be interesting as the last two have the Liberals ahead. ( I do not understand this either, it is perplexing)

But with the pro right wing BC Liberal Party media in this province it still will be tough for NDP, especially once they start trotting out Dix's baggage and linking him to Glen Clark...We will hear again about fast ferries even though the German ones are not any better..So many people watch and believe what they see on Liberal Party TV aka Global TV..

To bad so many 'hippies' and those not liking 'the man' etc from the 60's are now capitalists...Generally speaking The baby boomer generation could of made things so much better instead of things being so bad..but they had it all, the next generations get to pay for it..

The fact is history tells us the NDP can only win if right wing-centre vote is split. Whether Barrett, Harcourt or G. Clark...The funny thing though is the NDP gets less popular support when they win than when they (always) lose a two party race.,,

But with the pro right wing BC Liberal Party media in this province it still will be tough for NDP, especially once they start trotting out Dix's baggage and linking him to Glen Clark...We will hear again about fast ferries even though the German ones are not any better..So many people watch and believe what they see on Liberal Party TV aka Global TV..

Red Herrings all around-everyone?

If the election does not get held soon, the fact that the HST reversal is slated to take place over a year and a half from now will certainly not help in the hoped for outcome!
BTW, no matter how 'grumpy' one is, if one quotes from history, it is helpful to inform oneself of the dates. It sure does not help to make remarks generally regarded as false.
I, for one, will be all ears in the coming elections and all 'pencil' to show my take on it.

I have lived in BC for most

I have lived in BC for most of my life and have watched the government treat the most beautiful place in the whole world like a commodity. Selling it to the lowest incompetent bidders and letting them rape, pillage and plunder it, without a thought as to what the consequences would be.
The old saying used to be"BC is Best", now I'm not sure anymore.

next election

Like many others, I fervently hope that Ms terminally Cutesy Clark calls an election sooner rather than later. They've GOT to go!

I also think so many are far

I also think so many are far far to eager to write off the BC Liberals. I can not stand them but Social Credit won 4 in a row even though Bill Bennett annoyed many then he left and Vanderzalm was elected... I will not be surprised if this incarnation of the Socreds win 4 in a row either..

If there is no third party to split the vote, the BC Libs will win again unfortunately and we can kiss the rest of what is left in BC bye bye

What we have here is a small window of opportunity...

...conversations with friends and relatives go something like: whats the difference between the BC Liberals and the federal Liberals? Who cares! etc. Also, on a weekend camping trip with a group of 30 somethings the conversation consisted of fart jokes and descriptions of genitalia. The arrested development of 30 somethings is astounding. Grown men acting out the fantasies of 14 year old boys, drinking themselves into a stupor, offending all forms of human expression...

In all aspects of my life I see no interest in political matters, historical or otherwise. The working classes don't care because they don't know. News is handed to them in bite size propaganda from 24 and Metro at sky-train stations. I believe culture, society, even civilization is at the breaking point. Those who care are few, and those who don't care are the many. Ideology has a complete grip on society, and we are headed down a dangerous path, where history is forgotten and fascism creeps, masked as democracy.

Wrong friends?

I think you are hanging around with the wrong set of friends, Blake. The thirty somethings I know (children of my friends) sure aren't like that, indeed they are a darn sight more mature than I was at that age, not having the burden of an authoritarian upbringing weighting them down. Try hanging out with some of the young activists instead...

Another Perspective

When you think about the referendum there was really only one horse in the race. The YES side was very passionate about getting rid of the tax and more significantly, the BC Liberals. Who really wants to vote in favour of a tax?

Therefore one would expect that all the NDP ridings would vote to get rid of the tax and the rest of the ridings would be split between YES and NO depending on voters' understanding of the tax. That is basically what the results imply.

Voting YES, if not for political purposes implies that the voter is saying that they want BC to be the only jurisdiction in over sixty years that has implemented such an immature tax as the PST. Sweden, Norway etc have HST of about 25% (12% for food in Sweden) but lower general corporate tax rates that BC. Maybe they know something.

So, given that only 55% voted to cancel the HST and that much of that vote was only a protest political vote then now is the time for C Clark to call an election on the basis of retaining the HST. She has a dream opponent in A Dix and would force him to declare exactly how he would pay for the shortfall in revenues without the HST.

In 1991 the NDP got away with not declaring that they would have to significantly raise income taxes. This time they would be forced into that declaration.

Anyone but the BC Liberals

Brilliant analysis, Rafe.

I also must agree with you that there is no cure for the BC Liberals except 10 years in the political wilderness. This will flush out all the greedy, self-serving types who are only in there for the 'trough'.
Kicking Lying Brian for bringing in the GST taught the Federal PCs a real lesson.

Political loyalty, no matter what, is a clear sign of an ideologue, not rational support for a platform.
C'mon you Liberals, show some integrity & at least abstain in the next BC election; or, if you must, vote Conservative.

A myth!

Dan the socialist, I agree with a lot you say. Indeed an NDP victory is not a foregone conclusion. But one minor quibble, your "To bad so many 'hippies' and those not liking 'the man' etc from the 60's are now capitalists". This is a mass media myth. I was a member of the Vancouver Yippies and I am still in touch with the rest of the gang and not one of them has sold out. This is also true of my non-Yippie left friends from that period. Peoples ethics are fully formed around age 18 or so and usually people stay with these views all their lives. If you have empathy at 18 you will have it at 80, and people who are selfish jerks at 18 are usually that all their lives.

Reason for riots

Campbell's record of lies and deception as described here combined with Harper's involvement with the HST illustrate the reason people in other parts of the world are rioting in the streets. They are willing to die so they can have democracy just like the democracy we used to have in Canada. Politicians like Campbell and Harper are destroying democracy.

Another Business Owner

I have been a small business owner for nearly 30 years. The 7% GST put money in my pocket. As did the 5% GST. And even more did the 12% HST. HUGE ITC's kep rolling in (Input Tax Credits, aka refunds from the Federal Government).

I voted to extinguish the HST brought in by Gordon Campbell, (polished and modified by Christie Clark).

Why? The Liberals lied to voters. The HST is good for 5% of BC's population, bad for 95% of the remaining citizens. The HST is a tax shift FROM business, TO consumers. And, did I mention the Liberals lied to voters?

In the end, I had to choose between self interest (greed) and democracy (the public interest). Like some people in business (some, but not most, and certainly not all) I choose democracy.

Non-democracies can make businesses rich, but they are very, very bad for the world (take note businesses that have lost their way.)

Great coverage.

Not quick but insidious

A quick election might be best for the province, but it won't likely happen.

Christy can legitimately stick to the Elections Act, even if she might have previously chosen to break it, stating that governing for family friendly B.C. was more important than election distractions.

Meanwhile, continuing the privatization of possibly profitable Crown Corporations and dissolving the others, meanwhile laying off more unionized workers, exactly as the FI recommended, can move along.

Like Gordo, she too will end up with a plum position in either the appointed private or government sector for holding off those who would want to alter the governing system and its privatization schemes for the true benefit of B.C.

Why risk an early election when most will have forgotten the events of 2011, especially if 2013 should happen to start up the good times again.

As to mainstream media, it is sad to see how many get bamboozled by their pro neolib/neocon propaganda. Those who call the CBC too left wing are surely misled, but again the idea of a national public broadcast system of any stripe is despised by those who promote that privatizing agenda.

Dan, that "hippy" generation of boomers were, for a considerable part, "wanna-bees", who had little comprehension of the deeper capitalist forces that then resulted in the blowback of civil rights, women's lib and the anti war movement. Much of the perception was that if the system's extremes were properly mitigated, then all would be O.K.

War, especially overtly U.S. based, was somewhat reduced in the 70s and 80s, blacks became somewhat more integrated into the dominant society, as were women, to the point that younger generations have been, for the most part, co-opted to that system and are weak on the real issues, to the point of thinking that women are now equal to men.

"Nothing wrong with living a deliciously decadent lifestyle when the above issues were remediated, right? Being a yupee is fun, but we work harder than ever before, so profit above everything and lets maintain the government that best allows us this ideology and our lifestyles, right?"

"We really don't want to vote again so soon, right?"

Taxation

Taxation
The badly-bochted (hint: look at spelling!) implemention of the HST is yet another example of the power elite trying to maintain their tax advantage. On that issue, I recently surmised the best thing to do now (after voting, in a convoluted manner, "YES", to throw out the HST) is to throw the entire taxation issue back to the politicos, in order to come up with a fair and equitable taxation system, whererin we can pay for essential social services such as health, education, transportation and all the other usual suspects (PS: YES won!).

On a related issue, it appears the new political modus operandi is to dazzle the masses (that's us!) with mega projects, such as the Olympics, trade and convention centres, new roofs on the stadiums, fast ferries, etc., in order to gain favour and get re-elected: it appears to have largely worked! Better, lets dump mega projects and instead re-implement rational spending on essential social services. And let's do this via a fair and equitable tax system. Dump lottery-mania and tax loopholes. Lets get back to basics. I don't care which group of politicos do it, just do it!

Yes, electoral reform, rumrunner, but...

...with respect, to ask a political party to design, or even support, a plan for electoral reform that empowers all citizens equally is asking more than any of them can give. I know, I've tried. It's as unlikely of success as hoping that if we keep voting out one party or the other every 4 years it will 'teach them' to respect us. Has it given us good governance yet, federally or provincially? Not from my observations. What we want to achieve, I think, is Independent and accountable representatives in every constituency.

I suggest we use the same Citizens' Initiative used against the HST, only this time we strike at the root of the problem, not just the latest blossom. We need a referendum on electoral reform, only this time one designed by the voters themselves, to empower voters, not political parties and their leaders.

We need the essential infrastructure for implementing democratic self-governance: permanent electoral offices in community centres designed to accommodate a democratic and deliberative decision-making process. We need to have our votes on all of our representatives 'banked' there for us to place or change whenever we choose. We can propose and sign Citizens' Initiatives there if we want to, and vote on binding referenda when issues require it, with no additional cost to anyone.

I see these as the basic minimum electoral reforms we need. What party would support such empowering reforms to bring self-governance to our communities, provinces, and our nation? We can make representatives at every level directly accountable to their constituents and pretty much eliminate the need and expense of maintaining these dinosaurs of political parties that spend so much on their staged 'battles' for our support. All of which comes out of our pockets, ultimately, however many big businesses or corporations it is cycled through first.

We have Campbell to thank sincerely for one thing: he demonstrated in the most lurid possible colours exactly what is wrong with our system. He showed us what the unaccountable dictatorial powers of political party leaders can do, at a huge cost to the well-being of so many of us. I hope he has also convinced us that we can't afford to keep testing one ambitious politico after another expecting to eventually find one who 'does the right thing' and governs citizens in a way that increases our quality of life, not just his own power and wealth and that of those whom he serves by sacrificing us. It's like playing Russian Roulette with all the chambers FULL. Whoever wins the elections, we lose.

Instead, it's time to take up the challenge and learn to govern ourselves. The suggestion that we're able to choose someone capable of 'ruling' us wisely and fairly, but not able to learn to write our own mutually agreeable rules and govern ourselves responsibly makes no sense at all.

John Corman

I take it you're now convinced that the 'other' aspects of the way the tax system is structured in Scandinavian countries is a good idea too.

Interesting how supporters of the HST are not equally sanguine about adopting the other measures of taxation in countries where equity, fairness and a decent social welfare structure are important and fundamental characteristics of their societies.

Are you now ALSO in favour of a top 55% rate of marginal tax that cuts in at, say, 1.2 times the average wage?

Unlike the supporters of the HST - which was simply a shift of tax costs from business to consumers (especially onerous for lower income earners and the poor) I've always supported a real change in tax policy and direction in this country.

How about it John? Can you take off the blinders long enough to recognize that professionals like yourself have been enabling the increases in inequity which have characterized the last 30 years in this country?

Why not simply admit you - and the government - were wrong and stop playing games about the obvious problems with the way the system favours the rich over the needy; the wealthy over the poor AND big business over the small entrepreneur?

The one thing this result indicates more than anything else is that it’s time for a change.

John Corman

I guess John also supports people being allowed to retire at 21? And full cradle to grave protections?

Cool.

I don't understand why the pro-HST crowd never talk about how VAT taxes brought such prosperity to Greece and Ireland...

Women as government leaders...

It looks like we have the backroom boys of yet another doomed government allowing a woman to hold the steering wheel of a political party that has driven off a cliff but not quite hit the rocks below. There's no way Christy Clark would have been allowed to lead if the pols had thought there was a fighting chance for another mandate.

The Socred/Liberal backroom boys will take the inevitable in stride. They'll view it as a chance to hone their manipulations and whip up some hysteria around the godless socialists while signing more IOUs to multinationals on our children's behalf. My fervent hope is that an NDP government will have the courage of their convictions and rip up the disastrous contracts signed by Campbell and company. The future of our province must be protected. That can only happen if decisions about our assets and resources are made in B.C. Rest assured that most of those decisions are now made elsewhere.

Christy was the best option....

...for those power-brokers who were deathly afraid of BC Rail fallout.

Rafe, did you read this before you hit "send"?

Or did you just write it?

The reason I'm asking is that you seem to be hanging Campbell's sins on Clark.

I get that all of the NDP partisans who hang around here won't want to give Clark credit for anything - not the fact that she's raised the minimum wage or cut out charging for parking in provincial parks or even that she (unlike Campbell) agreed to hold a referendum and be bound to the results. However, I've come to expect a bit more objectivity out of you.

ReeferMadness

What have YOU been smoking?

Why would anyone give Ms Christina credit for something CAMPBELL agreed to do?

I guess you missed this:
“If 50 per cent of the people who show up at the polling booths next September say they want to get rid of an HST then certainly, as a government, I would want to get rid of the HST.”

Those words were spoken by GORDON CAMPBELL, not Christina Clark, while he was still premier of this province.

It was widely reported at the time - Sept 2010 when the government of British Columbia announced that it will scrap the recently implemented Harmonized Sales Tax if voters say so. The government said it will hold a referendum next year and if voters vote 'no' to the HST, it will be gone.

A legislative committee concluded to hold a referendum on Sept 24, 2011 so voters can decide if they want to keep the Harmonized Sales Tax.

All Ms Christy did was move the vote ahead by a couple of months - do it by mail instead of with ballot boxes - and the result is now known an earth-shattering 4 weeks earlier than would have been the case under Campbell's original plan.

By the way, BC still has the lowest minimum wage in the country.