HST

Recalling B.C. Liberal MLA Ida Chong over HST proves difficult

by Carlito Pablo on January 19th, 2011 at 3:10 PM
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      With its February 4 deadline looming, the campaign to recall B.C. Liberal MLA Ida Chong is behind schedule, the lead organizer of the movement against the harmonized sales tax has acknowledged.

      Fight HST's Chris Delaney admitted that getting the required 15,368 signatures to unseat Chong and trigger a by-election in Oak Bay–Gordon Head is “going to be very difficult”.

      “They've got about 8,000 signatures so far, and they have three weeks left to get really another 8,000,” Delaney told the Straight by phone on January 18. “It's doable, but it's going to be tough.”

      Chong won during the last election with 11,877 votes, a margin of 561 votes over her NDP rival.

      Delaney noted that recall campaigners have encountered impediments they didn't anticipate. He cited as an example the fact that 8,000 to 9,000 people in the riding live in apartment buildings that can only be accessed by canvassers with the permission of property owners. The HST opponent also said that most of the 4,000 to 5,000 provincial employees living in the constituency are afraid to sign the petition. He added that many of the approximately 4,000 postsecondary students in the area who might support the campaign were not registered voters during the last election.

      “When they go door to door and they're actually able to talk to people, they're getting five to six people per every 10 houses they hit,” he said. “But now what's happening, there's less and less houses that they haven't already hit.”

      Delaney disagreed that the resignation of Premier Gordon Campbell has derailed the HST opposition movement. “I still see the HST everywhere, so how does that [Campbell's resignation] help anybody?” he asked.

      Lynne Henderson is the manager of Chong's campaign against recall. “I'm happy to see that people realize that recall is not meant for a situation like this,” Henderson told the Straight by phone. “Recall is meant for someone who has done something evil, and not for those who voted for a particular policy.”

      Elections B.C. has approved a petition to recall Comox Valley Liberal MLA Don McRae, starting on Friday (January 21).

      Comments

      30 Comments

      Bring back Gordo

      Jan 20, 2011 at 5:02am

      This proves that we All want Gorden Campbell back. BC needs him.

      Chet

      Jan 20, 2011 at 5:09am

      Her days at the trough are #'d anyway. OINK !

      RonS

      Jan 20, 2011 at 8:35am

      Hey Lynne, she did something evil. She supported a tax that her constituants don't want. She is not only evil she's deaf!

      Second Nation

      Jan 20, 2011 at 9:00am

      Best line of the story: “Recall is meant for someone who has done something evil, and not for those who voted for a particular policy.”

      Hopefully the vanderZalm/BC-NDP coalition gets the message.

      Bruno15

      Jan 20, 2011 at 9:53am

      While Delaney's enthusiasm is admirable, his intellect and decision making are not. Didn't he learn anything from the previous 20 times recall has been tried? He comes off looking like the Vander Zalm dupe that he is. Good luck with the whole BC First thing, Einstein.

      Rosanne Sutherland@shaw.ca

      Jan 20, 2011 at 10:45am

      DO NOT throw us under the bus yet.Besides they want more people to sign then even go out and vote,and you all should remember,Liberals&NDP,are saying,you only count as a citizen if you vote,but all must pay HST,yes I vote,but a lot of people are fed up with politics, MLAs are supposed to be there for the people,and if your more worried about your job than the people,WHY should the tax payer have to pay thier salery to go against them. Vander Zalm and Delaney are honorble men,and I thank God for them standing for the small guy.
      We can Win,And WE WILL WIN

      Bruno15

      Jan 20, 2011 at 12:35pm

      @luvbc - As I've stated before on GS, the only time I have ever voted Liberal was in 2001 when everyone with even an ounce of objectivity voted Liberal just to make the pain from the Glen Clark era mercifully come to an end. I actually don’t have a party at any level that I would identify myself with. I'm just a middle of the road guy who's still able to see that just because some poor decisions were made by the GC Liberals -- BC Hydro privatization, salmon farm expansion, lying about sale of BC Rail and implementation of HST (although the decisions to unload BC Rail and implement HST are both correct decisions IMO) -- this recall effort, like all but one in the past, will fail because its about policy disagreement and not about illegal or immoral activity of an MLA, as was its intention. The now retired and hence mostly objective Dan Miller has opined as much. I think most people in any riding will agree with this, especially after the liar-in-chief got his. Hopefully the next premier, from whichever party it is, can start making logical arguments and decisions that are in the interests of the bulk of BC'ers who are in the middle of the political spectrum. IMO, this would include things like implementing HST, stop and reverse all privatization of BC Hydro and conducting a public inquiry into the sale of BC Rail for the process that was undertaken as there were decisions made which have the potential of being conflicts of interest. The decision to sell BC Rail, however, was undoubtedly correct, IMO.

      Sorry to disprove your Falcon theory.

      glen p robbins

      Jan 20, 2011 at 4:09pm

      I'd love to see more from luvbc vs Bruno 15 - on the debate card.
      How about luvbc vs Bruno 15 on student loans.
      Submissions please contestants---

      Irish Patty Robbins

      luvbc

      Jan 20, 2011 at 4:46pm

      Bruno15. With respect, regardless of who you voted or did not vote for - you disregard, and I might even say, insult, the over half a million people in this province who voted against the HST - not only on its face - but the way it was implemented by the "bait and switch" methods by these "jacks".

      "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again..." ~ Einstein

      Could be applied to voting for the same old, same old...
      At least, the ongoing process of recall by volunteers - high bar of recall success aside - will result in attention and perhaps even, accountability, in whomever tries to 'zoom' us, over and over again, imho.