Now that the anti-HST petition juggernaut led by Bill Vander Zalm has exceeded the required 10 per cent of eligible voters in all 85 ridings in B.C., Premier Campbell and his Liberal colleagues find themselves staring into the abyss.
From the cynical calls to Ottawa about implementing the HST within days of winning the election, during which Campbell lied to the electorate in saying that the HST was not being considered, he and his Liberal government have stepped from one cow patty to another on this issue ever since.
From Hansen's cynical offer to earmark all HST revenue to healthcare, and then arrogantly neglecting to register with Elections B.C., thereby preventing them from mounting an ad campaign to oppose the anti-HST forces, the government has dug themselves in deeper at every opportunity.
While party sacrificial lambs and their supporters in the business community have done their best to convince us that like Buckley's Mixture cough medicine the HST - "Tastes awful - but it works", Gordo makes like Trudeau in his final days, travelling the world on official visits.
Now he and his Liberal colleagues are perched at the edge of, at worst, electoral defeat in the next election, or at best, the possible recall of eight of their MLA's (including Donna Barnett in Cariboo-Chilcotin) under the province's recall legislation. Proponents must get 40 per cent of registered voters in the riding to sign a petition, but given their success in the anti-HST petition, coupled with the general dislike of the government these days, that recall could very well succeed. Can by-elections be far behind?
A far better strategy would be for Gordo and company to fall on their swords, admit they made a mistake, but for all the right reasons, deficit, credit ratings, blah blah blah, but hey, the B.C. and Canadian economies are recovering faster than anyone could have predicted thereby making the HST unnecessary.
Not only would this help defuse the HST issue, but at the same time it might give the Liberals a fighting chance come the next provincial election in 2013.
Campbell's bravado aside, this issue will not fade in the minds of the electorate, and the supposed savings to business will not be passed on to consumers in a way that they'll notice. Following Ontario's lead, BC liquor prices will be raised July 1 to offset the HST "savings" we supposedly were expecting as consumers.
In 1991 Prime Minister Mulroney implemented the hated GST, two years later Kim Campbell and the Federal Tories went down to electoral defeat. Coincidence? We think not.
So Premier, for the sake of your colleagues, your party and your legacy, about which you seem to care a lot, we urge you to withdraw the HST legislation, or engineer its defeat.
Trust us - Harper's Tories will understand, and the majority of B.C. electors will applaud the move.
