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

August 20, 2010

4:30 PM

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.

Comment (29)

Comments

OR
Fri, 2010-08-20 18:45	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.

Camero409
Fri, 2010-08-20 19:20	Let him be vindictive. His days in office are numbered. He's just a child anyway. On to the recall!

Bruce
Fri, 2010-08-20 19:36	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.

David L.
Sat, 2010-08-21 07:17	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 !

IV
Sat, 2010-08-21 08:24	Maybe he can get a job with a chamber of commerce somewhere

KRickO
Sat, 2010-08-21 08:30	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

ernie57
Sat, 2010-08-21 08:35	What ever it takes to get rid of that lying prick campell and his little sidekick ferret faced hanson lets do it

ernie57
Sat, 2010-08-21 08:44	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

Steff Stretch

Sat, 2010-08-21 11:11

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.

Steve Brenner
Sat, 2010-08-21 12:04	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.

balys
Sat, 2010-08-21 12:33	watching these fear mongering scum act like this reminds me of the stanford experiments. good luck humanity.

Jeff Harris

Sat, 2010-08-21 13:07

why can't or isn't there a party that truly represents the people? there's pieces of each party we love & hate. why not take the good from each & make another party. if there were likeable parties in the elections, we might get more people to vote.
maybe even change things to get into the big office. if I didn't want Campbell in office but the Liberal in my area was the "best choice" I vote for him & that translates into votes for hat party. I'm not a fan of the system

glen p robbins
Sat, 2010-08-21 13:28	I would speculate that there will be another party up and going in this vacuum by September of this year---------------(less vacuum)-----, glen p robbins for premier?

Linda

Sat, 2010-08-21 14:46

We all are familiar with Campbell's vendetta's. Any newspapers, printing bad press about him. will get no government ads. The judge presiding over, Campbell corrupt sale, of the BC Rail trial, has to play ball, or she would find herself out of a job. So, the judicial system is controlled. The RCMP, refuse to get any more involved in the BC Rail trial, they could lose their contract, with the province. Campbell tampered with the FIO papers, he whited them out, to conceal the Olympic debt, from the NDP and the citizens. He did a vendetta, on the First Nations People, because, they did not want, China's dirt oil tankers, in their coastal waters, so, they got no break, from the HST. They are in a constant battle with Campbell and Hansen, to save their lands, rivers, streams, from polluting their food sources. They need the lakes, rivers, lands and the sea, to hunt and fish, to feed their families. Campbell and Hansen, are full of hate and spite. Anyone opposing them, loses their jobs and rights.

glen p robbins
Sat, 2010-08-21 14:49	Chief Justice Bauman is already a hero with the public----with one decision "OR" - moreover I suspect he's rescued the courts reputation so that the police and the politicians can compete for a distance second place. Ask your friends and neighbours--I bet they will tell you the same thing.

Mike Summers
Sat, 2010-08-21 15:13	Political parties have been committing abuses of power for a long time. But only one provincial party offers voters CONTROL. Without that, they are all the same. Refederation is what we need now.

dhcongrave

Sat, 2010-08-21 16:38

What are our alternatives in political parties??? For some reason there are only two and neither are palatable. The only other party that has received a small number of votes is the Green Party which by their inaction shoot themselves in the foot. They don't even have a Web site that works. But what can you expect in a Province and Country where most people don't even vote let alone participate in their own governance. We fully deserve what we have and what we will get!!!
Dave

Camero409

Sat, 2010-08-21 21:16

dhcongave says "We fully deserve what we have and what we will get!!!". I totally disagree. What we vote for is a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Not a government to lie to the people, to get elected, to serve multinational corps and the elite.

What we have to do is punish those who violate the trust granted in an election. The punishment should vary from stiff fines to long jail sentences. Perhaps then we will avoid the narcissistic, egomaniacs (aka LIbARalS) that we now have in government. There must be a severe consequence for violating that trust.

Hansen
Sat, 2010-08-21 22:00	Up your arse Hansen!

Clive

Sun, 2010-08-22 08:47

Recall campaign in the fall; I don't normally get involved in politics but I'll gladly volunteer to help get rid of the lying arrogant dictator and his flock of spineless bobbleheads. This court challenge clearly demonstrated once again that the province is run for the sole purpose of lining the pockets of big business and corporations. Citizens that are now paying the majority of all the taxes don't even figure into the equation.

Free to vote.

Sun, 2010-08-22 09:09

I can't help but wonder how do the above expect to pay for all of the services we presently enjoy.PST was on over 95% of items we purchase. Why should a restaurant meal which is a luxury not be taxed? Even as we are presently taxed our spending resources are stretched to the limit. If you believe that a business should not make money, go work for yourself.Have these people forgotten the Fast Ferry fiasco? Over one Billion dollars of our money spent. That money would have gone a long way to creating beds in hospitals, etc.

Jim Van Rassel
Sun, 2010-08-22 14:52	Hansen and Campbell are going to deliberately make this process as "lengthy" as possible, all the while throwing salt and applying pressure to the wound they have inflicted in the people of British Columbia, while seemingly enjoying very minute of it. I don't know about you but I find this mindset sadistic and on the verge of 'democratic genocide'. Jim Van Rassel Coquitlam BC

ernie57
Sun, 2010-08-22 16:41	Yes the NDP did buy the fast ferries and it was a bad deal for all,But who are the fools that sold them for a pittance of amount that could have gone to the hospital, and schools?

Jeff Harris
Mon, 2010-08-23 10:34	If you are voting for the best constituent it is the way it shoud be but fellows like Campbell it just dosen't work as he is a dictator with a one man show.

thomas folkestone
Mon, 2010-08-23 11:54	Campbell should be tried for treason. How about this, Gordo? We're not going to sell you to Somalian Slave Traders, oh no. We're just going to lease your ass to them for the next 999 years. How does that sound, you ingenuous bum??

Jim Van Rassel
Mon, 2010-08-23 18:39	It's a stretch but here goes; What if the HST, the way it was done and the attention it is getting was by design. Designed to keep our eyes off BC Hydro, the biggest and most important asset next to our Provincial lands. To keep us busy while it is sold or given away piece by piece to the interests Gordon Campbell really represents. you read it here first. JVR Jim Van Rassel Coquitlam BC

Jamie

Tue, 2010-08-24 17:24

Fear-mongerong anyone? Seriously, Charlie Smith is actually saying that the government will slash funding to the PROVINCIAL SUPREME COURT because it ruled in a case against them. And what exactly will that do for Campbell's HST cause... or anything else for that matter? What a terrible idea for an "article". Cutting arts funding or refusing to recognize 2 MLA's as the official opposition is NOTHING like undercutting the provincial supreme court. It's not even remotely the same thing. The court is independent from government for exactly this reason. I wonder how many times Mr. Smith has expressed the sentiment that the Conservatives (or Liberals for that matter) use people's irrational fears in order to gain specific political ends. Yet here he is, spouting the same sort of nonsense. This article is a joke.

glen p robbins
Wed, 2010-08-25 21:34	I would speculate that there will be another party up and going in this vacuum by September of this year---------------(less vacuum)-----, bill vander zalm for premier?

Real News Anyone?
Fri, 2010-08-27 07:27	Do words like 'exact revenge' belong in our Canadian Media today? Those are words of fear and intimidation; which do not belong in our Canada. But, responsible management sure does; sorely lacking.. So remember kids, VOTE LIKE YOU ARE FIGHTING FOR YOUR VERY LIFE, BECAUSE YOU ARE.

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