DONSPODRADIO.COM
A LITTLE ROCK, A LITTLE TALK
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2010
On this day in 1955 ...
"The Yellow Rose Of Texas" by Mitch
Miller was the #1 song..-
Friends and Site Visitors: Please take a moment to take our survey
Click Here to take survey
CLICK HERE FOR THE LISTENERS SPEAK OUT PAGE
WELCOME TO THE DONSPODRADIO/CKW WEBSITE. ENJOY YOUR VISIT!
DONSPODRADIO.COM/CKW
THIS WEEK'S PODCAST HERE
DAILY SMILE HERE
PROGRAM INFORMATION HERE
NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER HERE
TODAY IN BROADCAST HISTORY HERE
LISTENERS SPEAK OUT HERE
BUY DONSPODRADIO STUFF HERE
NOTE TO LISTENERSTHE REGULAR WEEKLY PODCAST,
FLASHBACK FRIDAYS (THE PLATTER PARTY)
and
the SUNDAY SHAKE-UP
with
JAMES MURPHY
ALL NOW ONLY AVAILABLE ON
PODOMATIC AND I-TUNES (DonsPodRadio)
(Click here to go to Podomatic or use the Podomatic Player below)
HERE ARE THE CURRENT PODCASTS
A LITTLE ROCK - A LITTLE TALK
A WHOLE LOT OF ROCK
PODCAST 205
(Posted September 1, 2010)
SUNDAY SHAKE-UP
and
PURE GROOVES
(with James Murphy)
CLICK HERE FOR LINK
TO DOWNLOAD THE CURRENT PODCAST
AND TO READ ABOUT THIS WEEK'S SHOW,
CLICK HERE.
BACK TO TOP
THE BEST OF MURPHY
RETROSPECTIVE - ON THE "20'S"
SPORT DE JOUR AT 50
with
AL MURPHY
RETROSPECTIVE - ON THE "20'S"
SPORT DE JOUR AT 50
with
AL MURPHY
LISTEN TO THIS WEEK'S RETROSPECTIVE
COMMENTARY AND
SPORT DE JOUR
CLICK ON THE PLAYER
BELOW
For the BEST OF MURPHY Archives
visit Al's site by clicking here
ROCK AND ROLL NEWSwith
MICHAEL GODIN
3 MINUTES OF ROCK AND ROLL NEWS
HEARD NEAR THE BOTTOM OF EACH HOUR!
for the full TIO report, click on the picture below
BACK TO TOP
Want to contact us here at DonsPodRadio - CKW?Simply click on the MAILBOX and shoot us an Email.
Want us to play a tune?
Research something for Retrospective?
"Talk" to Al, Michael, James, Joey, Don or anyone else heard here?
Send a joke, story or picture for one of the feature pages?
Email today!
Fight HST The Way Forward
By Bill Vander Zalm
Leader, Fight HST
August 30th, 2010
By Bill Vander Zalm
Leader, Fight HST
August 30th, 2010
The Fight HST movement
has grown into something much bigger than its original protest against a
cruel tax. While the damage to the economy from the HST continues to
reveal itself on a daily basis, it has now become a seminal issue in BC
politics. It has divided the political class from the people in a
struggle for true democracy. It has stripped away any pretense of a
functioning democracy, and laid bare the brutal reality that our
democracy is, at best, on life support.
Never before has a government so steadfastly resisted the will of the people it was elected to serve. Never before has it used every tactic in the book to try to derail the democratic process. Many citizens are actually concerned that come election time, the BC Liberals’ will try to find a way to not relinquish power should they be defeated – it has gotten that bad.
Consider, for example, the recent court action by the so called “Business Lobby” to declare the petition “illegal”. Lawyers for Big Business, acting as surrogates for the government, in a stunning act of Orwellian doublespeak actually told the judge that striking down the petition signed by over 700,000 voters in BC would be good for democracy!
But when the Chief Electoral Officer intervened on behalf of that Business Lobby by withholding the validated petition from going to the legislature, despite the clear instructions of the Initiative Act that he “must” submit it, many people wondered if we were living in some sort of banana republic where supposedly independent officials are indistinguishable from the government itself.
Fortunately, the Chief Justice of the BC Supreme Court ruled not only in our favour, but overwhelmingly so. He rejected every argument by the Business Lobby, and accepted all of ours. Principally, he ruled that the HST Extinguishment Act, which is our draft Bill to end the HST, was not only valid, but was a model piece of legislation. He declared that it was clear and unambiguous, and was a matter for the BC Legislature to deal with. In other words, he ruled that the HST can be cancelled by the BC government.
He also ordered the Chief Electoral Officer to immediately hand over the petition to the Standing Committee. The Standing Committee now has two options: 1. They may refer the Bill to the legislature for a vote, or 2. They can send it back to the Chief Electoral Officer to conduct a province wide “Initiative Vote”.
An “Initiative Vote” is the legal term for a non-binding referendum requiring 50% of all registered voters in BC to approve. Not 50% of the votes cast in the referendum – 50% of ALL voters in BC! Given that less than 50% of the people bother to vote in elections anymore, it is a deliberately onerous formula designed to thwart the democratic will of the people, not facilitate it. It is completely contrary to Canadian democratic tradition. It becomes even worse when you consider that only 23% of the registered voters actually voted for the government that gave us the HST. Now they want twice that number to repeal it!
But even if such a vote somehow passed, the Bill would simply return to the legislature again for a vote by MLAs, at a cost of between $30 and $50 million. It is a total waste of time and money in a pointless exercise designed to stop democracy dead in its tracks.
We have told the government we will not accept such a “nuclear” approach to destroying the people’s petition. We have given Premier Campbell two options: 1. Allow a truly “free” vote in the legislature to defeat the tax, or 2. Conduct a BINDING referendum requiring a simple majority of votes cast to pass the Bill.
Anything else is a delay tactic, and will result in Recalls being conducted against selected government MLAs as soon as possible after November 15, 2010, the first day that Recalls can begin.
If we are forced into Recall, we will begin by Recalling two or three MLAs, followed by a new Recall launched every month thereafter until the government either defeats the HST, or finds itself defeated while defending the tax to the bitter end
Bill Vander Zalm
former British Columbia Premier
FOI reveals BC Government in negotiations on HST months before 2009 Election
September 2nd, 2010
Delta – A damning report out of the BC Ministry of Finance, made available through the Freedom of Information Act, shows the BC Government was in negotiations with the federal government regarding implementation of the HST months before the provincial election in 2009.
Fight HST Leader, Bill Vander Zalm, says the report proves the BC Government deliberately deceived the public during and after the 2009 election when they said they did not have plans to implement the HST until weeks after the election.
“This document shows the premier and finance minister not only did not tell the truth during the election, but they repeated that deception over and over again afterward. Now they've been caught red-handed, and they must resign,” said the former BC premier.
Vander Zalm says the report also shows the government was made aware that the HST would have a negative impact on the economy of BC for at least five and perhaps up to ten years. “They also told us the HST was the best thing they could do for the economy of BC. It turns out they were not telling the truth about that either, since they were fully aware of a C.D. Howe Institute study showing the exact opposite.”
Vander Zalm says the C.D. Howe Report puts the lie to the argument that cancelling the HST will be too costly for BC. “This report shows that cancelling the HST would help BC’s economy and actually save our health care, education and social programs from cuts due to a shrinking tax base under the HST. Not cancelling it will result in business losses, higher unemployment and deep cuts to services.”
“The premier and finance minister’s credibility is shot. How they thought they could get away with this is hard to imagine. It’s the sign of an arrogant, out of control government that believes it is above any code of ethics, morals or accountability of any kind.”
Vander Zalm says it would appear that Campbell and Hansen deceived not only the public but their own MLAs as well, who were fed the government line that there were no plans for an HST prior to the election.
“It is time for every MLA in the government to come clean on where they stand. Are they on the side of the people, or are they on the side of deception?”
“Failure by any MLA to take a stand against this shocking revelation means the excuse that they have been defending the tax on its merits changes to defending duplicity and untruth in government. And if they are on the side of deceiving the people, then they are fair game for Recalls starting in November. It’s all we’ll have left to restore some semblance of honesty and integrity to government in BC again,” concluded Vander Zalm.
"arrogant, out of control government"
Former Premier Bill Vander Zalm
calls for Campbell & Hansen to resign
Photo: Courtesy AhaMedia.ca
FOI reveals BC Government in negotiations
on HST months before 2009 Election
Delta – A damning report out of the BC Ministry of Finance, made available through the Freedom of Information Act, shows the BC Government was in negotiations with the federal government regarding implementation of the HST months before the provincial election in 2009.
Fight HST Leader, Bill Vander Zalm, says the report proves the BC Government deliberately deceived the public during and after the 2009 election when they said they did not have plans to implement the HST until weeks after the election.
“This document shows the premier and finance minister not only did not tell the truth during the election, but they repeated that deception over and over again afterward. Now they've been caught red-handed, and they must resign,” said the former BC premier.
Vander Zalm says the report also shows the government was made aware that the HST would have a negative impact on the economy of BC for at least five and perhaps up to ten years. “They also told us the HST was the best thing they could do for the economy of BC. It turns out they were not telling the truth about that either, since they were fully aware of a C.D. Howe Institute study showing the exact opposite.”
Vander Zalm says the C.D. Howe Report puts the lie to the argument that cancelling the HST will be too costly for BC. “This report shows that cancelling the HST would help BC’s economy and actually save our health care, education and social programs from cuts due to a shrinking tax base under the HST. Not cancelling it will result in business losses, higher unemployment and deep cuts to services.”
“The premier and finance minister’s credibility is shot. How they thought they could get away with this is hard to imagine. It’s the sign of an arrogant, out of control government that believes it is above any code of ethics, morals or accountability of any kind.”
Vander Zalm says it would appear that Campbell and Hansen deceived not only the public but their own MLAs as well, who were fed the government line that there were no plans for an HST prior to the election.
“It is time for every MLA in the government to come clean on where they stand. Are they on the side of the people, or are they on the side of deception?”
“Failure by any MLA to take a stand against this shocking revelation means the excuse that they have been defending the tax on its merits changes to defending duplicity and untruth in government. And if they are on the side of deceiving the people, then they are fair game for Recalls starting in November. It’s all we’ll have left to restore some semblance of honesty and integrity to government in BC again,” concluded Vander Zalm.
Never before has a government so steadfastly resisted the will of the people it was elected to serve. Never before has it used every tactic in the book to try to derail the democratic process. Many citizens are actually concerned that come election time, the BC Liberals’ will try to find a way to not relinquish power should they be defeated – it has gotten that bad.
Consider, for example, the recent court action by the so called “Business Lobby” to declare the petition “illegal”. Lawyers for Big Business, acting as surrogates for the government, in a stunning act of Orwellian doublespeak actually told the judge that striking down the petition signed by over 700,000 voters in BC would be good for democracy!
But when the Chief Electoral Officer intervened on behalf of that Business Lobby by withholding the validated petition from going to the legislature, despite the clear instructions of the Initiative Act that he “must” submit it, many people wondered if we were living in some sort of banana republic where supposedly independent officials are indistinguishable from the government itself.
Fortunately, the Chief Justice of the BC Supreme Court ruled not only in our favour, but overwhelmingly so. He rejected every argument by the Business Lobby, and accepted all of ours. Principally, he ruled that the HST Extinguishment Act, which is our draft Bill to end the HST, was not only valid, but was a model piece of legislation. He declared that it was clear and unambiguous, and was a matter for the BC Legislature to deal with. In other words, he ruled that the HST can be cancelled by the BC government.
He also ordered the Chief Electoral Officer to immediately hand over the petition to the Standing Committee. The Standing Committee now has two options: 1. They may refer the Bill to the legislature for a vote, or 2. They can send it back to the Chief Electoral Officer to conduct a province wide “Initiative Vote”.
An “Initiative Vote” is the legal term for a non-binding referendum requiring 50% of all registered voters in BC to approve. Not 50% of the votes cast in the referendum – 50% of ALL voters in BC! Given that less than 50% of the people bother to vote in elections anymore, it is a deliberately onerous formula designed to thwart the democratic will of the people, not facilitate it. It is completely contrary to Canadian democratic tradition. It becomes even worse when you consider that only 23% of the registered voters actually voted for the government that gave us the HST. Now they want twice that number to repeal it!
But even if such a vote somehow passed, the Bill would simply return to the legislature again for a vote by MLAs, at a cost of between $30 and $50 million. It is a total waste of time and money in a pointless exercise designed to stop democracy dead in its tracks.
We have told the government we will not accept such a “nuclear” approach to destroying the people’s petition. We have given Premier Campbell two options: 1. Allow a truly “free” vote in the legislature to defeat the tax, or 2. Conduct a BINDING referendum requiring a simple majority of votes cast to pass the Bill.
Anything else is a delay tactic, and will result in Recalls being conducted against selected government MLAs as soon as possible after November 15, 2010, the first day that Recalls can begin.
If we are forced into Recall, we will begin by Recalling two or three MLAs, followed by a new Recall launched every month thereafter until the government either defeats the HST, or finds itself defeated while defending the tax to the bitter end
Bill Vander Zalm
former British Columbia Premier
FOI reveals BC Government in negotiations on HST months before 2009 Election
September 2nd, 2010
Delta – A damning report out of the BC Ministry of Finance, made available through the Freedom of Information Act, shows the BC Government was in negotiations with the federal government regarding implementation of the HST months before the provincial election in 2009.
Fight HST Leader, Bill Vander Zalm, says the report proves the BC Government deliberately deceived the public during and after the 2009 election when they said they did not have plans to implement the HST until weeks after the election.
“This document shows the premier and finance minister not only did not tell the truth during the election, but they repeated that deception over and over again afterward. Now they've been caught red-handed, and they must resign,” said the former BC premier.
Vander Zalm says the report also shows the government was made aware that the HST would have a negative impact on the economy of BC for at least five and perhaps up to ten years. “They also told us the HST was the best thing they could do for the economy of BC. It turns out they were not telling the truth about that either, since they were fully aware of a C.D. Howe Institute study showing the exact opposite.”
Vander Zalm says the C.D. Howe Report puts the lie to the argument that cancelling the HST will be too costly for BC. “This report shows that cancelling the HST would help BC’s economy and actually save our health care, education and social programs from cuts due to a shrinking tax base under the HST. Not cancelling it will result in business losses, higher unemployment and deep cuts to services.”
“The premier and finance minister’s credibility is shot. How they thought they could get away with this is hard to imagine. It’s the sign of an arrogant, out of control government that believes it is above any code of ethics, morals or accountability of any kind.”
Vander Zalm says it would appear that Campbell and Hansen deceived not only the public but their own MLAs as well, who were fed the government line that there were no plans for an HST prior to the election.
“It is time for every MLA in the government to come clean on where they stand. Are they on the side of the people, or are they on the side of deception?”
“Failure by any MLA to take a stand against this shocking revelation means the excuse that they have been defending the tax on its merits changes to defending duplicity and untruth in government. And if they are on the side of deceiving the people, then they are fair game for Recalls starting in November. It’s all we’ll have left to restore some semblance of honesty and integrity to government in BC again,” concluded Vander Zalm.
"arrogant, out of control government"
Former Premier Bill Vander Zalm
calls for Campbell & Hansen to resign
Photo: Courtesy AhaMedia.ca
FOI reveals BC Government in negotiations
on HST months before 2009 Election
Delta – A damning report out of the BC Ministry of Finance, made available through the Freedom of Information Act, shows the BC Government was in negotiations with the federal government regarding implementation of the HST months before the provincial election in 2009.
Fight HST Leader, Bill Vander Zalm, says the report proves the BC Government deliberately deceived the public during and after the 2009 election when they said they did not have plans to implement the HST until weeks after the election.
“This document shows the premier and finance minister not only did not tell the truth during the election, but they repeated that deception over and over again afterward. Now they've been caught red-handed, and they must resign,” said the former BC premier.
Vander Zalm says the report also shows the government was made aware that the HST would have a negative impact on the economy of BC for at least five and perhaps up to ten years. “They also told us the HST was the best thing they could do for the economy of BC. It turns out they were not telling the truth about that either, since they were fully aware of a C.D. Howe Institute study showing the exact opposite.”
Vander Zalm says the C.D. Howe Report puts the lie to the argument that cancelling the HST will be too costly for BC. “This report shows that cancelling the HST would help BC’s economy and actually save our health care, education and social programs from cuts due to a shrinking tax base under the HST. Not cancelling it will result in business losses, higher unemployment and deep cuts to services.”
“The premier and finance minister’s credibility is shot. How they thought they could get away with this is hard to imagine. It’s the sign of an arrogant, out of control government that believes it is above any code of ethics, morals or accountability of any kind.”
Vander Zalm says it would appear that Campbell and Hansen deceived not only the public but their own MLAs as well, who were fed the government line that there were no plans for an HST prior to the election.
“It is time for every MLA in the government to come clean on where they stand. Are they on the side of the people, or are they on the side of deception?”
“Failure by any MLA to take a stand against this shocking revelation means the excuse that they have been defending the tax on its merits changes to defending duplicity and untruth in government. And if they are on the side of deceiving the people, then they are fair game for Recalls starting in November. It’s all we’ll have left to restore some semblance of honesty and integrity to government in BC again,” concluded Vander Zalm.
