(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.
Showing posts with label Bill VanderZalm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill VanderZalm. Show all posts
Monday, October 4, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Fight HST Turning Serious Debate into Clown Show
(Aired on September 21, 2010)
There probably isn't one person who sees this editorial who is surprised MLA Terry Lake's name is near the top of the list of targets for the anti-HST recall campaign. As the chair of the legislative committee who made the unpopular decision of going to a referendum on the HST, and an MLA who didn't have a big margin of victory last year, that shouldn't be surprising.
Lake's future is hardly in doubt, even though his committee copped out and took the easy way out of the HST controversy by going to a referendum a year away. It was a cop-out because by next September, the fuss over the HST will be gone, and we will have spent millions of dollars on nothing. All because the Liberal members of Lake's committee used the excuse that the referendum was a way to listen to the people instead of having the guts to debate the issue in the legislature and take a vote. This way, they blame the anti-HST forces for causing us to spend all that taxpayers money instead of simply saving it by voting on it instead. And if you're going to have a referendum, have it sooner rather than later so we can have a vote while the issue is still a hot topic.
What I can't figure out, though, is why Bill Vander Zalm and the anti-HST forces are turning the whole recall process into a clown show by making it into some kind of Survivor game. That's about as tactless as Lake's committee's decision on the referendum. If Chris Delaney and VanderZalm are serious about this issue, and they've put a lot of work into it so far, why would they cheapen the whole thing by this charade? Maybe they're simply giving up. They don't even have a proponent to run a recall campaign in Kevin Krueger's riding. Maybe it's all over and the anti-HST folks are just going through the motions. I can't think of anything else given the stupidity of their latest move. This is a serious thing. Treat it that way, or walk away.
There probably isn't one person who sees this editorial who is surprised MLA Terry Lake's name is near the top of the list of targets for the anti-HST recall campaign. As the chair of the legislative committee who made the unpopular decision of going to a referendum on the HST, and an MLA who didn't have a big margin of victory last year, that shouldn't be surprising.
Lake's future is hardly in doubt, even though his committee copped out and took the easy way out of the HST controversy by going to a referendum a year away. It was a cop-out because by next September, the fuss over the HST will be gone, and we will have spent millions of dollars on nothing. All because the Liberal members of Lake's committee used the excuse that the referendum was a way to listen to the people instead of having the guts to debate the issue in the legislature and take a vote. This way, they blame the anti-HST forces for causing us to spend all that taxpayers money instead of simply saving it by voting on it instead. And if you're going to have a referendum, have it sooner rather than later so we can have a vote while the issue is still a hot topic.
What I can't figure out, though, is why Bill Vander Zalm and the anti-HST forces are turning the whole recall process into a clown show by making it into some kind of Survivor game. That's about as tactless as Lake's committee's decision on the referendum. If Chris Delaney and VanderZalm are serious about this issue, and they've put a lot of work into it so far, why would they cheapen the whole thing by this charade? Maybe they're simply giving up. They don't even have a proponent to run a recall campaign in Kevin Krueger's riding. Maybe it's all over and the anti-HST folks are just going through the motions. I can't think of anything else given the stupidity of their latest move. This is a serious thing. Treat it that way, or walk away.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Can Advertising Change Our Minds on HST?
(Aired on September 15, 2010)
Advertising works. It's a slogan that has kept my industry afloat through some pretty tough times. But we'll see just how well advertising works in the next year.
A year from now, British Columbians will go to the polls to show their feelings on the Harmonized Sales Tax. If the referendum was to be held today, the results would likely be very ominous for the Liberal government. And as TRU Political Studies professor Ray Pillar said yesterday, the referendum will foreshadow the next provincial election.
But who knows how we'll all feel about the HST in a year's time. During that interval, the Campbell government and their big business friends will likely want to max out on advertising the benefits of the HST. There will surely be spending limits placed on direct advertising, but there are always ways in which special interest groups can skirt those rules. You can count on being blitzed with propaganda.
But the anti-HST crowd has a bit of an advantage. While money must be spent to explain the benefits of certain tax policy, no money will need to be spent to convince the public that politicians are shady and coniving. It's an instinct probably all of us have. The government will be successful if it can shift attention away from how it sprung the HST on an unsuspecting public, and onto the benefits of a particular tax policy. If the debate focuses on cynical politics, however, I'm afraid the HST - and the Liberal government in turn - will be sunk.
Advertising works. It's a slogan that has kept my industry afloat through some pretty tough times. But we'll see just how well advertising works in the next year.
A year from now, British Columbians will go to the polls to show their feelings on the Harmonized Sales Tax. If the referendum was to be held today, the results would likely be very ominous for the Liberal government. And as TRU Political Studies professor Ray Pillar said yesterday, the referendum will foreshadow the next provincial election.
But who knows how we'll all feel about the HST in a year's time. During that interval, the Campbell government and their big business friends will likely want to max out on advertising the benefits of the HST. There will surely be spending limits placed on direct advertising, but there are always ways in which special interest groups can skirt those rules. You can count on being blitzed with propaganda.
But the anti-HST crowd has a bit of an advantage. While money must be spent to explain the benefits of certain tax policy, no money will need to be spent to convince the public that politicians are shady and coniving. It's an instinct probably all of us have. The government will be successful if it can shift attention away from how it sprung the HST on an unsuspecting public, and onto the benefits of a particular tax policy. If the debate focuses on cynical politics, however, I'm afraid the HST - and the Liberal government in turn - will be sunk.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Recall the Wrong Course of Action for Anti-HST Forces
(Aired on June 24, 2010)
I have to tell you. Enough is enough. It is one thing to campaign to have the Harmonized Sales Tax reviewed by the B.C. government. Anti-HST organizers have enough signatures in every riding to force the government to have a review, or maybe even a referendum on the tax. I have no issue with their efforts. In fact, I applaud their initiative. That's what democracy is about.
What democracy is not about is trying to target 24 MLAs for a possible recall just because they voted in favour of the HST. That is going way beyond what the recall initiative should be about. And if Bill Vander Zalm carries out this recall initiative, I think he is destroying anything good that the anti-HST initiative was supposed to accomplish.
To recall an MLA, the MLA should stand accused of some gross wrongdoing, maybe facing some criminal charges, or perhaps unethical behaviour of some sort. That's the kind of thing that the recall laws were meant to deal with. To try to recall an MLA simply because you disagree with the government's policy on something is wrong. And way beyond the scope of what the legislation was intended to deal with.
The time to disagree with the government's policies is at a provincial election, and there's one coming three years down the road. If, at that time, you think the government was wrong in putting some sort of policy or tax in place, that's where you deal with it. To target a whole group of potentially vulnerable MLAs because you happen to think the HST is bad is not the right approach. And if organizers in our area try to do that, I hope people will give the anti-HST forces the message that they're carrying things a little too far.
I have to tell you. Enough is enough. It is one thing to campaign to have the Harmonized Sales Tax reviewed by the B.C. government. Anti-HST organizers have enough signatures in every riding to force the government to have a review, or maybe even a referendum on the tax. I have no issue with their efforts. In fact, I applaud their initiative. That's what democracy is about.
What democracy is not about is trying to target 24 MLAs for a possible recall just because they voted in favour of the HST. That is going way beyond what the recall initiative should be about. And if Bill Vander Zalm carries out this recall initiative, I think he is destroying anything good that the anti-HST initiative was supposed to accomplish.
To recall an MLA, the MLA should stand accused of some gross wrongdoing, maybe facing some criminal charges, or perhaps unethical behaviour of some sort. That's the kind of thing that the recall laws were meant to deal with. To try to recall an MLA simply because you disagree with the government's policy on something is wrong. And way beyond the scope of what the legislation was intended to deal with.
The time to disagree with the government's policies is at a provincial election, and there's one coming three years down the road. If, at that time, you think the government was wrong in putting some sort of policy or tax in place, that's where you deal with it. To target a whole group of potentially vulnerable MLAs because you happen to think the HST is bad is not the right approach. And if organizers in our area try to do that, I hope people will give the anti-HST forces the message that they're carrying things a little too far.
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