HST Debate Turning Nasty

(Aired on October 1, 2010)

Two weeks ago, I theorized that advertising would be key in determining who gets the upper hand in the Harmonized Sales Tax campaign prior to next year's referendum.  Turns out I was wrong.  Or at least that's the way this week turned out.

First, there was the comments unearthed by the Liberals, attributed to Okanagan Fight HST organizer Al Romanchuk, who was sympathetic to holocaust-denier Ernst Zundel.  Then, Liberal MLAs pointed to Cariboo-Chilcotin organizer Gary Edwards, who peppers his angry blog entries with profanities and vulgarisms.  The Fight HST campaign countered by uncovering comments made by a former Young Liberal official, who tweeted that Bill Vander Zalm is to politics what Michael Jackson was to children.

So no, I suppose it won't be advertising or rational debate that will turn the tide.  It will be the nastiest, most cynical form of political dirty tricks.  Certainly, the comments made are deplorable, and in some cases, completely reprehensible.  But it doesn't have any real impact on the debate.  In fact, instead of changing the minds of the voters, it will only further entrench people in their own positions.

I thought sanity would be restored today when I learned that Cariboo-Chilcotin organizers are proceeding with a recall of MLA Donna Barnett.  My idea was that maybe we'd get down to something real.  But when I spoke to Barnett about it, all she wanted to do was direct me to read up more on the foul-mouthed blogger. 

It's my hope that British Columbians keep their eyes on the prize, and consider all relevant points before making a decision on HST.  Character assassination, to my mind, is not relevant.