The premier can exact revenge for Bill Vander Zalm's HST victory in B.C. Supreme Court

How vindictive is Premier Gordon Campbell?

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Bauman might have to wait until early next year to learn the answer.

Today, Bauman dismissed a petition brought forth by six business groups. They wanted the court to quash former chief electoral officer Harry Neufeld's decision to approve an anti-HST petition crafted by Bill Vander Zalm.

If Campbell gets into a snit over Bauman's decision, the premier can take revenge in next year's provincial budget.

All he has to do is slash funding to the B.C. Supreme Court over which Bauman, as the chief justice, is the top administrator.

If this sounds farfetched, consider the following:

* When arts groups protested cuts to cultural spending, Campbell's government downgraded arms-length funding, prompting the chair of the B.C. Arts Council's resignation.

* When the Hospital Employees' Union backed the NDP with generous financial donations, Campbell's government ripped up existing contracts with its members (which was later condemned by the Supreme Court of Canada).

* After the NDP captured only two seats in the 2001 provincial election, the B.C. Liberal government and its handpicked speaker refused to recognize NDP MLAs Jenny Kwan and Joy MacPhail as the Official Opposition.

Campbell's ruthlessness has helped him survive for 26 years in provincial and municipal politics.

His former attorney general, Geoff Plant, claimed earlier this year that the anti-HST petition was unconstitutional.

This influenced several business organizations (representing big B.C. Liberal donors) to launch the court challenge. Plant's law partner argued the case.

Bauman disagreed with Plant's view. And for that, the chief justice shouldn't be too surprised if there isn't quite the same amount of money next year to operate his court.

Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.

Comments

29 Comments

OR

Aug 20, 2010 at 7:45pm

Personally I wouldnt worry. the fact is come next year most of the liberal MLAs will be recalled and the Liberal Government will topple. Robert Bauman will go down a hero, while Gordon Campbell will go down as an example of a lying dictator wannabe squashed by democracy.

It will be a sad day when the courts rule in favor of protecting a budget.

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Camero409

Aug 20, 2010 at 8:20pm

Let him be vindictive. His days in office are numbered. He's just a child anyway. On to the recall!

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Bruce

Aug 20, 2010 at 8:36pm

I agree OR. Campbell will be in a nice comfy private sector job by next year and the BC Liberal Party will be looking to rebrand themselves because the Liberal name will be as popular as the Marxist-Leninist Party is now.

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David L.

Aug 21, 2010 at 8:17am

Unfortunately I have to agree with all of the above comments ! BUT OMG not the NDP again , we are in bad enough shape without them in control !

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IV

Aug 21, 2010 at 9:24am

Maybe he can get a job with a chamber of commerce somewhere

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KRickO

Aug 21, 2010 at 9:30am

perhaps before that would happen campbell will be ordered by the court to be remanded into the custody of an institution for the criminally insane by said judge, lol a nice rubber rom is just waiting for him

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ernie57

Aug 21, 2010 at 9:35am

What ever it takes to get rid of that lying prick campell and his little sidekick ferret faced hanson lets do it

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ernie57

Aug 21, 2010 at 9:44am

Campbell has always been vindictive .if he doesnt get it his way he will bully his way or just keep lying to all of us.We are long overdo for Recall

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Steff Stretch

Aug 21, 2010 at 12:11pm

I believe in being a balanced person in life, being nether right nor left wing!
I remember in 1995 when the then ruling party was NDP. They deducted twenty-five dollars from the basic welfare checks, which for your living portion was two-hundred dollars, and to this date the Liberal party has not reestablished this amount back to were it was before. So it leaves people on basic welfare to live on $175.00 a month! I do not trust any of these two parties anymore! They are not for the people of British Columbia, they are in it for themselves! Let's bring them all down to their knees, and show them that, we the people will no longer stand for the way we are all treated by Governments in this province, and Canada.

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Steve Brenner

Aug 21, 2010 at 1:04pm

Yep , Mr. Maui Wowie will probably be a high paid "consultant" for BC Ferries, BC Gas ..oops...Terasen Gas, or one of these other taxpayer-formed companies that he handed to his business cohorts on a silver platter.

Politicly he's toast - the most loathed man in BC.

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