VERY EASY

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2008 PageFiller Lid and Associstes ww, payefilier.com

 

 

 

Spring thaw

 

editor in chiet

© matter your religious
affiliations (or lack thereof);

i Easter marks a time of rebirth
and renewal for both the world of nature
and the artificial world we humans have
created for ourselves. The vernal equinox,
harbinger of spring weather, brings with
it the promise of chocolate bunnies, time
with family, and hopefully, the urge to
procreate furiously.

And what better time than this
to dive into a new season of political
turmoil in our beloved province of British
Columbia? After all, spring is the season
for intense screwing. We’re not even a
year removed from the election of last
May, yet we could be facing another
political showdown over the Harmonized
Sales Tax.

Despite being announced mere
days after the Liberals won their third-
straight election, the HST hasn’t been
implemented in this province, nor has it
even been approved by the Legislative
Assembly. A vote making it official will
take place sometime in the next few
months, and the NDP and other assorted
HST opponents are hoping they can

' extend debate on the matter long enough

to find some way to defeat the legislation
that would make the tax official.

Since the Liberals already have a
simple majority in the Legislature, it’s
going to take some creativity to defeat the
HST bill. The two ideas that have been
most bandied about are convincing seven
Liberal MLAs to vote against the party
line, or, as former premier Bill Vander
Zalm is proposing, collect signatures.
from 10 per cent of the eligible voters in

every single riding in B.C.

Believe it or not, I think Vander
Zalm’s idea is a little more realistic.
Gordo’s always been a top-down type
of leader and his authority is seemingly
unchallengeable by anyone inside the
Liberal Party, and there are certainly no
sitting Liberal MLAs willing to defy
party discipline; at least, that’s how it
looks from outside the party.

No, it looks like the only chance
British Columbians have to avoid pay
an extra 12 per cent on the costs of
everything from food to haircuts to rent
(because Lord-knows rent isn’t high
enough as it is) is to support the efforts of
a guy who left office in disgrace 19 years
ago because he sold his garden business
crookedly (if he was really smart, he
would’ ve gotten a deck out of the deal,
like Glen Clark did).

Vander Zalm’s plan is almost
unthinkable simply because of the great
mobilization of people required, and
more importantly, the apathy surrounding
all those people. Here’s hoping that
our notoriously indifferent electorate
will finally find some motivation in this
obscene tax hike. I know the sale of our
public utilities couldn’t do it, I know
corruption allegations couldn’t do it, and,
hell, not even a universally hated gas
tax couldn’t do it, but if this won’t do it,
nothing will. If this tax gets approved, it
will be because we either have the laziest
voters in the country, or a whole crapload
of people who like paying taxes.

Oh, well, at least the spring weather’s
getting nicer!

Your friend in high fidelity,
Liam Britten

Editor in chief

The Other Press

 

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