Poor Colin Hansen. B.C.'s finance minister can't seem to get a break whenever he claims that the harmonized sales tax wasn't on his radar screen before the May 12, 2009 provincial election.

His credibility took a beating in many British Columbians' eyes this week when a six-page document was released to the media. It showed that he had been briefed on the HST in March.

Earlier this week, I wrote a post offering three possible explanations for Hansen's "not on the radar screen" comment.

One, he was lying.

Two, he stored this memory in his nonconscious mind, so he's not aware of this consciously.

Three, his memory is faulty. It wouldn't be the first time a politician had erroneously recalled something.

But there is a fourth explanation, which I didn't mention in the previous blog post.

It's that Hansen never knew that there was a secret plot to introduce the HST after the election because his boss, Premier Gordon Campbell, never told him about it.

As a result, Hansen can glibly and quite honestly say that the HST was not on his radar screen before the May 2009 election.

Here's some of the circumstantial evidence to support this theory:

One: The premier's advisory body of heavy hitters from the business community, the B.C. Progress Board, release a report in December 2008 recommending the harmonization of federal and provincial sales taxes.

The report was prepared by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards.

"The CSLS maintain, and we agree, that the most dramatic area for improvement in business investment is through a harmonized sales tax," B.C. Progress Board chair Gerry Martin says in a December 12, 2008 news release.

The chair of the premier's own advisory committee notes in the news release that "this is a move that would likely be met with public opposition and concern", so Campbell decides not to introduce legislation before the election.

Two: Campbell appoints Graham Whitmarsh as deputy finance minister on January 19, 2009. Whitmarsh formerly worked in Campbell's office as the head of the climate change secretariat.

Three: Within two days of taking the job, Whitmarsh sends a think tank's report on the HST to a key ministry staffer. This bureaucrat, Glen Armstrong, later writes the six-page briefing memo on the HST to Hansen, dated March 12. Hansen tells the media this week that he paid little attention to it.

Four:: In February 2009, Hansen introduces a budget with an absurdly low $495-million deficit. The revenue numbers are laughable to anyone who has paid attention to the economy. Perhaps Hansen is merely following the recommendations of his bureaucrats, headed by Whitmarsh, a former top official in the premier's office.

Meanwhile, finance ministry staff under Whitmarsh's direction work with their federal counterparts, miraculously reaching a compromise on the HST that includes a $1.6 billion signing bonus for B.C. This will help address the shortfalls in the February 2009 fudge-it-budget.

After the election, the premier tells Hansen that the government should consider introducing the HST. The finance ministry officials tell Hansen that they've negotiated a deal with the feds.

And Hansen, like the loyal minister that he is, marches into the spotlight with the premier on July 23, 2009 to announce that the province will implement a harmonized sales tax. Little does he realize that this news conference will destroy any chance of him succeeding Campbell as premier.

I'm not saying that this is what really happened. But if the premier was a really nasty scheming bastard, this would be a good way to get the job done, leaving a key minister to take the heat. It would offer the added benefit of clearing the way for an ardent right winger, such as Health Minister Kevin Falcon, to become Campbell's successor.

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