Time For Premier to Stop Being Stubborn Says Fight HST Leader

Friday, June 11, 2010 09:47 AM

Prince George, BC. The unexpected resignation of Peace River South MLA Blair Lekstrom from the Provincial Cabinet and Liberal Caucus has added fuel to the Fight HST fire.

Initiative Leader, former Premier Bill Vanderzalm says Lekstrom’s resignation shows the effort to fight the HST is winning “It shows we are getting through to some of the members of government, and this will save us from having to do recalls if the Premier continues to be so stubborn.”

Lekstrom , the former Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, tendered his resignation this morning saying “In light of the widespread opposition to the HST, I believe it would be prudent to bring the move toward the HST to a halt and immediately engage British Columbians in a dialogue about our taxation policy. This is a major tax policy shift and it is time to engage British Columbians with a series of discussions about our province’s future. “

Lekstrom’s statement says his first priority is to the people who elected him and the HST will bring further challenges to his constituency because it borders Alberta. “When I was elected, I promised myself, my family and my constituents that I would not change who I am to do this job, and I have reached a point where my beliefs and values no longer align with my government.”

Fight HST leader, Bill Vanderzalm says the resignation of Lekstrom delivers a strong message to the Premier “The people are upset, they want this thing to end.”

With more than 600 thousand signatures, the Fight HST campaign has succeeded in collecting far more than the required threshold of 10% of the eligible voters in all 85 ridings in the Province.

The HST is to take effect in B.C. on July 1^st.

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Posted on Friday, June 11, 2010 09:47 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: BCRacer on June 11 2010 11:49 AM

Thank you Blair Lekstrom...someone with a conscience...

I doubt Campbell cares, as I suspwect he has no intentions of running again...and I truly believe he is lining up his future with big business by giving them all these breaks.....

I heard somewhere they are off on spring, summer, fall, winter and possible spring breaks???? and they are getting paid for what????

Posted by: theviewuphere on June 11 2010 12:09 PM

Problem is we are only hearing one side of the story. Where do Vanderzalm, James and Delaney think we are going to come up with 2 billion we are getting from the feds? That money is most certainly already budgeted for. Besides, there are many areas in which the HST will be a benefit. To bad Campbell shot himself in the foot when bringing in this policy, Ontario seems to be doing much better with this.
Final comments: Why are we putting so much faith in what Vanderzalm says?? We couldn't vote him out quick enough. And, what is Delaney setting himself up for? And what choice do we have? The NDP seems only to ever be successful in scaring off business and investment (aka jobs).
Lets hear both sides before we jump to conclusions.

Posted by: ammonra on June 11 2010 4:02 PM

Campbell and his Liberal followers had a golden opportunity to tell us everything it is possible to know about the HST during the last election. It was they who refused to do so and instead told the voters that it was not on the radar. That was their choice, their election strategy, so nobody is to blame for the present voter disgust with them but they themselves, not Van Der Zalm, not Delaney and not James.

As to projected tax income, Campbell and his supporters are adamant that the HST is revenue neutral and just a shift of taxes from business to the consumer. As a revenue neutral tax it will not raise any more income. That means if we just leave things as they are we will get exAactly the same amount of tax money into the Provincial Treasury - that is what revenue neutral means, after all.

Posted by: Palopu on June 11 2010 10:30 PM

Ammonra is correct. Leaving the PST in place will generate the same revenue that the Government was getting before they got into this HST fiasco.

They have budgeted the $1.6 Billion, however they are taking the first $500 Million this year, and I beleive they will take the balance ($1 Billion in 2013, election year)

So I suspect that at this time we need only deal with the $500 Million. This amount could be borrowed and repaid in short order, which is a hell of a lot better than being strapped for life with a $1500.00 per year tax.

Have a nice day.

Posted by: PrinceGeorge on June 12 2010 7:25 AM

"As to projected tax income, Campbell and his supporters are adamant that the HST is revenue neutral and just a shift of taxes from business to the consumer."

I don't believe for one second that it is revenue neutral. Mulroney said about the GST that it would be revenue neutral. Nobody believed it. Then he said that the extra revenue it would bring in would be used to eliminate the deficit. Nobody believed it. After the GST was brought in Mulroney kept running up deficits and increased the debt year after year. The extra money just vanished into the bottomless pit of government overspending.

I also don't believe that businesses will pass any HST tax savings on to the consumer!

Not a chance!

Posted by: Andyfreeze on June 12 2010 6:17 PM

Campbell is looking after Campbell.
Right about now,he is getting all his ducks in a row and calling in past favours.
For him,life after politics will be sweet!
For the victims of this self-serving government...not so much.
He is done, and he knows it.
We would be wise to be very careful with anything he does or says from here on out.