"Refugees in Canada get more government financial aid than seniors"- the phony, lying email that goes around the world

Refugees in United Nations High Commission for Refugees camp - UN photo

Refugees Get More than Seniors? Not True!

A viral email says refugees in Canada get 'more money than seniors.' I checked it out, and guess what?

Bill Tieleman's 24 hours/The Tyee column

Tuesday August 31, 2010

By Bill Tieleman

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."

- Winston Churchill

Did you know that refugees coming to Canada get more money from the federal government than our seniors do?

Isn't that outrageous? I read it in an email.

There's only one problem -- it is an absolute lie, an urban myth, a complete hoax.

But the email is persistent. It's been circulating in cyberspace since one error in the Toronto Star newspaper in 2004.

And it says a lot about how easily manipulated Canadians are about refugees, how needlessly afraid many people are of foreigners and likely how some are simply racially prejudiced about non-Caucasians.

'Scapegoating foreigners'

Sadly, the recent arrival in Victoria of a boatload of Tamil men, women and children from Sri Lanka seeking refugee status in Canada seems to have provoked another round of mythmaking and inflammatory comments.

Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, is extremely frustrated with the false email.

"It's in a broader context where there is an underlying level of xenophobia and speaks to people's insecurities," Dench said from the charity's Montreal office. "Scapegoating foreigners is an easy solution."

And that's what the email does: targets seniors by saying they get less financial support than new refugee claimants.

The false email reads:

"Only in Canada. Do not apply for your old age pension. Apply to be a refugee. It is interesting that the federal government provides a single refugee with a monthly allowance of $1,890.00 and each can get an additional $580.00 in social assistance for a total of $2,470.00.

"This compares very well to a single pensioner who, after contributing to the growth and development of Canada for 40 or 50 years, can only receive a monthly maximum of $1,012.00 in old age pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement.

"Maybe our pensioners should apply as refugees!" the email concludes.

Reality checked

Or maybe not, since all the information in the email is bogus.

Refugees do not get $2,470 a month -- not even one-quarter of that amount.

A single employable refugee claimant in B.C. would actually get a maximum of just $610 on social assistance -- $235 for expenses and up to $375 for shelter.

That's a long way from the almost $30,000 a year the email wrongly claims and significantly less than any Canadian pensioner receives.

Some refugees are eligible for a one-time only setup allowance of $905 for basic household items, but that's it.

Toews needs fact checking, too

Perhaps federal Conservative Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is one of those duped by the email. That might explain why he is encouraging anti-refugee sentiments by saying the Tamils on the MV Sun Sea included "suspected human smugglers and terrorists" without offering any proof.

Dench strongly disagrees with Toews' comments.

"These sort of negative associations tend to stick," Dench said. "All these kinds of labels dehumanize people."

In fact more than 90 per cent of Tamils arriving previously in Canada have been granted refugee status -- which shows there is a real need to protect them.

Amnesty International knows why refugees have been fleeing Sri Lanka following the end of a bitter civil war.

"The government failed to address impunity for past human rights violations, and continued to carry out enforced disappearances and torture," the A.I. 2010 report states, while noting that both the government and Tamil Tiger guerrillas are responsible for abuses.

And simply writing about human rights abuses in that country has proven deadly.

A May Amnesty report states: "In Sri Lanka, reporting the truth can be fatal. Journalists have been killed, physically assaulted, abducted and harassed by both government personnel and members of armed groups."

Refugees usually Canada's gain

But back to the bogus email. The Canadian Council for Refugees' Dench points out that in fact, most refugees help their new country, not hurt it.

"Refugees contribute to the Canadian economy in many ways -- most work and pay taxes. Some start businesses and employ Canadians," she said. "Anyone who knows refugees in Canada knows this email is far from reality."

But the email hoaxers don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. This one has actually gone beyond our borders and gained new life in both the United States and Australia, even with the wrong information from a different country used, with only the names of the nations being changed.

Dench believes the hoax's international travel and longevity are no accident.

"Obviously there are concerted efforts to circulate this email," she says.

The hoax email denouncing refugees asks that we: "forward this to every Canadian you know."

Here's a better idea -- one that many Sri Lankan journalists have paid for with their lives, but won't cost you anything -- forward the truth.

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"Devastating" BC government news on HST prompts major damage control - Finance Minister Colin Hansen calling media personally - embargoed till 4 p.m.

Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen announce HST on July 23, 2009

URGENT UPDATE - Finance Minister Colin Hansen was briefed on HST negotiations in March 2009 - months before BC election; government suppressed report saying if HST imposed BC would lose jobs and economic growth for up to 5 years!

As predicted here a short time ago, the BC government has disclosed that Hansen was briefed on negotiations between Finance Ministry bureaucrats and federal government officials about implementing the HST in BC months before the May 12, 2009 provincial election.

The obvious conclusion - Hansen and Premier Gordon Campbell deliberately and repeatedly misled both the public and restaurant and new home builder associations about the status of the HST before the election to avoid damaging political fallout that could have cost them victory.

CBC.ca is reporting that 140 pages of documents requested under the Freedom Of Information Act have been released, in response to FOI requests filed by several media outlets. Parts of the documents released have been "severed" or blacked out by government officials

The Vancouver Sun is reporting that the government also knew in advance of a C.D. Howe Institute study that warned imposing the HST in BC "will cause a short-term loss" in economic growth and employment.

“Part of the reason is that the negative effect of higher consumption taxes occurs faster than the positive effect of lower taxes on investment goods and exports. The study suggests that it may take five or more years before the impact on GDP is positive and even longer for real wages and job numbers to recover,” assistant deputy Finance Minister Glen Armstrong wrote in a March 12, 2009 briefing note to Hansen, according to Rob Shaw of the Victoria Times Colonist.

But Hansen is denying he was involved in HST negotiations.

“None of this stuff was at the request of anybody at the political level. ... I had never asked for anything to do with HST, nor to the best of my knowledge had any finance minister in our government or any other cabinet minister in our government including the premier, ever asked for any information to be prepared on HST,” Hansen told Shaw.

Unbelievable.


EARLIER REPORT BELOW:

What "devastating" government documents about the Harmonized Sales Tax are being selectively released to major media in a carefully orchestrated damage control exercise?

UPDATE - I have now clarified that most Victoria press gallery media filed a joint FOI request which the government responded to today - rumours that it was "selectively released" were incorrect - the material was given to all media who filed the FOI.

Finance Minister Colin Hansen is reportedly making individual calls to media outlets this afternoon, with the information embargoed until 4 p.m., several reliable sources tell me.

Rumours suggest the documents show the government - contrary to all past public statements - was very much involved in detailed discussions with the federal Conservative government prior to the May 12, 2009 provincial election.

That would contradict everything said previously after the July 23, 2009 announcement of the HST - that the government only began talks with Ottawa three days after the election - and would blow another gaping hole in the credibility of Hansen, Campbell and the BC Liberal government that is already in dire straits due to public opposition to the HST.

Could the documents also include previously undisclosed studies on the impact of the HST?

Highly possible.

Stay tuned to your major media - and this blog - for details when they become available.

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Bill Tieleman on vacation - but still fighting the HST and more!

Hi all - I'm off on summer holidays until early September - but don't worry - I'm still fighting the HST and everything else that makes the world worse!

My columns will still be appearing in 24 hours and The Tyee online and I will try to post all your comments on blog items as best I can while travelling and doing some R & R - please be patient.

And get some rest your good selves - this promises to be a wild fall as the province gets ready to teach the BC Liberal government a powerful lesson about the HST - you work for us - not the other way around!

Oh - and did I mention the Basi-Virk/BC Legislature Raid trial resumes Monday September 13?

Be safe, remain cool and stay tuned.

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Rescind the HST or face Recall: only two choices for BC Liberal government now

Bill Vander Zalm meets the media after Elections BC verifies Fight HST Initiative petition has been successful, August 11, 2010 - Bill Tieleman photo

Rescind or Recall

BC Liberals face stark choice after court validates HST petition.

Bill Tieleman's 24 hours/The Tyee column

Tuesday August 24, 2010

By Bill Tieleman

"The most important office in a democracy is the office of citizen."

- Louis Brandeis, U.S. Supreme Court justice, 1856-1941

Rescind or recall.

Rescind the Harmonized Sales Tax or face the recall of B.C. Liberal government MLAs starting this fall.

Those are the two stark choices facing Premier Gordon Campbell after the B.C. Supreme Court delivered a stinging ruling Friday upholding the validity of the first successful citizens-initiative petition in Canadian history.

Chief Justice Robert Bauman made it personal, too, by quoting Campbell himself in the second paragraph of his decision as saying the initiative was "a victory for democracy."

Then Bauman threw out every one of the arguments made by a coalition of big business organizations whose members help finance the B.C. Liberal Party, while one of their lawyers, former B.C. Liberal attorney general Geoff Plant, sat glumly watching.

Key players stay away

But neither lead lawyer Peter Gall nor a single business representative attended court to hear the decision or comment to the media in person; a news release expressing "disappointment" was later issued by the coalition.

Bauman reserved judgement on a potentially even more devastating decision -- whether the HST itself is unconstitutional, as argued by veteran lawyer Joe Arvay, representing initiative proponent and former premier Bill Vander Zalm.

Now the initiative process is back on track -- but it is a slow train that can never force the government to kill the HST -- it is simply an overwhelming expression of public anger that so far the B.C. Liberals have dangerously ignored.

But as of Nov. 15, recall campaigns can begin to unseat government MLAs who imposed the HST.

List shows vulnerable BC Liberals

And following the Bauman decision, Elections BC released detailed results of the initiative petition that suggest which B.C. Liberals are most vulnerable to recall in the fall.

At the top of the list is MLA Donna Barnett in Cariboo-Chilcotin, where 31.5 per cent of verified voters signed the initiative petition, the highest percentage for any B.C. Liberal and second-most in the province.

Close behind are MLA John Slater in Boundary-Similkameen, at 30.3 per cent, Labour Minister Murray Coell in Saanich North and the Islands at 26 per cent and Aboriginal Relations Minister George Abbott in Shuswap at 24.5 per cent.

In total there are 22 B.C. Liberal ridings where more than 18 per cent of verified voters supported the initiative.

(The website BC Election 2013 has posted two complete tables using Elections B.C. data to show both which ridings had the most signatures by percentage of verified voters and which ridings had the highest percentage of verified voters compared to petition signatures actually submitted.)

Recall rules are tough

Recall is a significant challenge, however, requiring 40 per cent of registered voters in the 2009 election to sign a recall petition in just 60 days.

That's one reason why the percentages aren't the only factor to consider in recall -- others include local campaign ability, voter mobility, financial resources, geography, winter weather and many more.

But while the Fight HST initiative campaign -- which I support -- had 90 days to collect 10 per cent of all registered voters signatures in all 85 ridings at once, recall campaigns can target one or two at a time and enlist volunteers from nearby ridings to help.

And with Fight HST boasting 6,556 registered canvassers for the initiative campaign, no one should think troops are lacking.

So it all comes down to three little letters, HST; two choices, rescind or recall; and one enormous problem for the B.C. Liberal government.

BC Conservative Party rocked by executive resignation and allegations it will support HST

The BC Conservative Party has been rocked by the resignation of a key longtime executive member and his allegations that the Party will accept the hated Harmonized Sales Tax because of the influence of federal Conservative party supporters.

Below is the complete letter of resignation from the executive and party of Blake MacKenzie, a 12-year member of the BC Conservatives.

Ironically, because they are increasingly seen as an anti-HST right of centre alternative to the unpopular BC Liberal Party that imposed the new tax, the BC Conservatives have been rising in the polls.

A July poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion put the BC Conservatives at 8% province wide, compared to the BC Liberals at just 23%, the BC NDP at 46% and the Green Party at 14%.

More astonishingly if MacKenzie's predictions prove true, 75% of British Columbians want the HST abolished and 67% of voters in BC Liberal ridings would sign a recall petition to remove their MLA.

But a news release dated August 22 from BC Conservative Party President Wayne McGrath seems to validate MacKenzie's charges, as it states in part that:

"British Columbians need relief now in the form of increased exemptions from the HST. The government needs to lessen the load for British Columbians now by removing more items from the tax," McGrath said.

Here is MacKenzie's letter, which I obtained. I welcome a response from the BC Conservatives.

* * * * *

August 23, 2010

Dear BC Conservative Party Members, the president, and Board,

It is with deep regret that I wish to inform you that I am resigning effective immediately from the Provincial Board of Directors as Director at Large, and cancelling my membership in the party.

I have lost confidence in the leadership of the party and the direction it has chosen to follow.

I have been deeply concerned by the backroom dealings and the amount of power that has transferred into the hands of an unelected group of self ordained political brokers to guide the party. Those of us who were actually elected back in September are being trampled and moved out of the way in favour of appointed, unelected people who are now controlling the party.

I would have thought the party would have learned its lesson from 2004 where operatives working for both the BC Liberals and the federal Conservatives came in and caused maximum disruption and prevented BC Unity from merging with the BC Conservative Party.

The Party is now dominated with mostly political appointments by the TAG group and their leader Randy White. The Provincial board has been taken over by those closely allied to the federal Conservative Party and their members currently involved in the BC Liberal Party.

I cannot and will not support this type of activity in the party. Some of our finest talent in the party is being marginalized because of their opposition to the HST.

Chris Delaney is the most public figure in our party and the leadership regards him as though he is a liability to the party. His treatment by the TAG leader Randy White, President Wayne McGrath, and Conservative MP John Cummins can only be described as disrespectful and disingenuous.

The one person who could point thousands of people to our party and has, with his involvement as a leader in the Fight HST organization, helped to demolish the BC Liberals, is considered by these unelected newcomers as not good enough to side with or mention his name in conjunction with the BC Conservative Party name. Shame!

I can no longer support a party that sides with the BC Liberals and the federal Conservative Party over the HST and over the people of BC. The people of BC have spoken and the party leadership in the BC Conservative Party will not listen. Pretending to listen is not listening.

We all know where the HST policy is going to come from; it will be developed by federal Conservatives as a watered down version that still accepts the HST to make sure their political masters in Ottawa are satisfied. I know the people of BC will not approve.

The party is now in the hands of outside, unelected interests which contradicts one of our most important constitutional philosophies - representing the interests of British Columbians first above all others.

The party leadership considers working with failed BC Liberal politicians and federal Conservatives who supported the HST, over attracting the hundreds of thousands of people in BC who oppose the HST, and oppose those who gave it to us. I for one will not be part of watching the party be taken over by a group of people, only to see them bring forth the same type of top down, backroom, undemocratic politics we were trying to replace in the BC Liberal Party.

I believe the choices made by the leadership of the party, including the TAG leader Randy White and the Fed Cons will fail, and the BC Conservative Party will collapse into obscurity.

I will continue to work together with all others of good faith for the betterment of British Columbia to ensure BC stays in the hands of the people of BC, and out of the clutches of those who would use her for their own ends.

Regrettably,


Blake MacKenzie
Former elected Director at Large and member of the BC Conservative Party since 1998.

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Total victory for Fight HST in BC Supreme Court - citizens Initiative to kill HST must proceed!

Photos: top - Bill Vander Zalm & Bill Tieleman leave BC Supreme Court after learning of Fight HST victory over big business coalition; middle - a happy Vander Zalm and Chris Delaney; bottom - NDP leader Carole James outside court calls on BC Liberals to reconvene BC Legislature and hold free vote on the HST Credits: Top - Stepan Vdovine, middle, bottom - Bill Tieleman

Stunning victory in BC Supreme Court for Fight HST and 705,643 voters who signed citizens Initiative over big business coalition

Chief Justice Robert Bauman delivered a shocking rebuke to BC Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell and his big business financial supporters in BC Supreme Court today, ruling that the Fight HST citizens Initiative is completely valid and should immediately proceed.

Bauman tellingly even quoted Campbell in the second paragraph of his written decision, saying that the premier had called the successful Initiative launched by proponent and former BC Premier Bill Vander Zalm a "victory for democracy" after it passed the threshold required by the Recall and Initiative Act.

Consider that a slap in the face to Gordon Campbell.

Bauman said the big business coalition legal action that caused Elections BC Acting Chief Electoral Officer Craig James mean that: "The proponents of the Initiative Petition are current denied the fruits of their 'victory for democracy'."

Not any more.

Bauman rejected each and every one of the big business coalition's arguments, as advance by lead lawyer Peter Gall of Heenan Blaikie and supported by former BC Liberal Attorney General Geoff Plant, former Labour Relations Board chair Don Munroe - both also of Heenan Blaikie, and UBC law professor Robin Elliot.

Only Plant was in court for the decision and did not appear outside court to make a statement to the media.

But Bill Vander Zalm and NDP leader Carole James both were.

"Today is a great day for the province, a great day for democracy - we won, we won!" an elated Vander Zalm said.

And Vander Zalm warned the BC Liberal government that Recall campaigns will start in mid-November if the HST is not eliminated in a vote by the BC Legislature.

James called on Campbell to immediately bring MLAs back to the Legislature for a free vote on the HST.

"We hear rumours the premier doesn't want a fall session, well what could be more important to deal with than 700,000 British Columbians who've spoken with one voice, a clear voice. It's time for the Premier to act," James told a media throng.

Bauman asked that Election BC immediately move on proceeding with the Initiative.

"I would respectfully ask that the Chief Electoral Officer perform his remaining duties under the Recall and Initiative Act forthwith," Bauman wrote.

And now Elections BC has released the total results of the Fight HST Initiative and full riding by riding breakdowns along with a news release stating the petition will be forward to the Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives on Monday August 23.

There is no explanation why the letter is not being sent today.

Elections BC reports that 557,383 of the total 705,643 signatures obtained by Fight HST were valid - meaning that 148,260 signatures were rejected for whatever reason.

The closest riding appears at first glance to have been Abbotsford South, which still passed by a margin of 599 voters.

Bauman rejected all Gall's arguments advance on Wednesday - that voters were "misled" by the Initiative petition and draft HST Extinguishment Act; that ending the HST was beyond the jurisdiction of the provincial government because of its agreement with the federal Conservative government to impose the HST; and that Elections BC should not have approved Vander Zalm's Initiative in the first place.

And Bauman left no doubt that the BC Legislature can kill the HST if it so chooses in a vote.

BC Chamber of Commerce President John Winter told CKNW radio's Christy Clark today that the business coalition will not appeal Bauman's decision, admitting that he was "disappointed" with the decision but will live with it.

And Winter suggested that maybe there should be a provincial referendum on the HST.

"We've heard a lot from people who oppose the HST, maybe we should hear from those who support it," Winter said.

The big business coalition members are: the Council of Forest Industries, the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, the Mining Association of B.C., the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, the Coast Forest Products Association and the Western Convenience Stores Association.

More bad news for the coalition: a new blog called Honestly Shared Taxation is calling for BC consumers to put pressure on individual coalition business members, including considering a boycott of their products.

Honestly Shared Taxation founders Laila Yuile and Norman Farrell - both veteran bloggers - have listed many of the individual business members' extensive donations to the BC Liberal Party on their new website.

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BC Supreme Court to rule on big business coalition anti-Initiative legal action Friday

Bill Tieleman & Bill Vander Zalm outside BC Supreme Court

Will the Fight HST citizen's Initiative be ruled legal or illegal on Friday?

BC Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Bauman said this afternoon that he plans to issue his decision at 10 a.m. Friday if at all possible,after hearing arguments from a big business coalition that wants to invalidate the Initiative petition signed by 705,643 voters.

That follows a day of arguments from the business organization's legal team - which strangely included comparing the campaign against the HST to a possible citizens Initiative effort to legalize marijuana in BC and saying voters had been "fooled" into signing the Fight HST petition.

Lead business lawyer Peter Gall said the proposed Fight HST draft legislation to kill the HST that was attached to the petition was no more possible for the BC Legislature to implement than it would be able to make marijuana legal in the province.

Bauman also heard counter arguments from lawyers for Fight HST leader and former BC Premier Bill Vander Zalm, the petition proponent, as well as a lawyer for Elections BC, which approved the wording before it was launched.

And NDP MLA Mike Farnworth strongly disagreed with Gall's position, saying that the entire Initiative question should be dealt with by the BC Legislature, not the court.

Gall, whose legal team includes former BC Liberal Attorney General Geoff Plant, was scathing in his attacks on the Initiative.

And Gall rejected any allegations that the business community is playing politics with the Initiative.

"There have been arguments that my clients are interfering with the political process, advancing their own interests - that's just not so. My clients simply want to see the rules followed," Gall said.

"There would be harm done to the political process if this Bill is introduced in the Legislature and the debate is not about the content of the Bill but whether it is constitutional," he said.

That brought a witty rejoinder from Bauman.

"You say it's wrong and they say it's right - and I have to resolve all that?" he asked to laugher in the courtroom.

But Gall forcefully argued that the Fight HST proposed legislation is beyond the province's ability to change because it entered into an agreement with the federal Conservative government to implement the HST.

"The proposed Bill is clearly, clearly in its pith and substance outside the jurisdiction of the province," Gall said. "This statute would nullify the HST immediately....The Act clearly indicated that it extinguishes the HST in British Columbia - and it can't do that."

"It [the Act] doesn't have the constitutional jurisdiction to render inapplicable the HST in BC. Only Parliament through an amendment to the Excise Tax Act can extinguish the HST in BC," Gall said.

Then the longtime adversary of labour unions in countless Labour Relations Board hearings went on the offensive against the Fight HST petition and draft legislation.

"This was very carefully, carefully constructed to have a very misleading and incorrect assumption - that this would eliminate the HST immediately," he said. "The summary also wrongly leads people to believ extinguishing the agreement [with Ottawa] will extinguish the HST."

Gall argued that Bauman should use the provisions of the Recall and Initiative Act that the petition was launched under to rule that the Fight HST effort is invalid and kill the legislation rather than let it go to a Select Standing Committee of the Legislature.

"That's what the Act was designed to prevent - from people being fooled," Gall said.

Fight HST lawyer Bruce Elwood argued strongly against the business coalition position.

"The intent of the Initiative process is to take the Executive [the BC cabinet] out and go directly to the Legislature," Elwood said. "The heart of the [Fight HST] Bill is very simple - to terminate the agreement."

Outside court NDP MLA Farnworth said that if the business coalition argument is upheld by Bauman, the Initiative process is dead.

"It will render the law basically useless," Farnworth said. "That's not what was intended with this legislation - this was a way for ordinary citizens to participate."

"The court should not be, in my view, pre-screening legislation. The Legislature decides what it will discuss and what will pass."

"The court should rule in favour of Vander Zalm and toss out the business coalition case," Farnworth said.
Bauman has reserved judgement on Fight HST's earlier court application to have the HST itself declared unconstitutional based on the fact that the BC Legislature never passed legislation imposing the HST - only to repeal the previous Provincial Sales Tax.

For those interested, the big business coalition members are: the Council of Forest Industries, the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, the Mining Association of B.C., the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, the Coast Forest Products Association and the Western Convenience Stores Association.
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Vander Zalm legal action against HST wraps up; business coalition attacks citizens Initiative next in court

Fight HST lawyer Joe Arvay made an impassioned final argument in BC Supreme Court this afternoon, calling on Chief Justice Robert Bauman to strike down the Harmonized Sales Tax agreement to "ensure accountability for taxation exists."

Arvay's summation - after the court heard provincial government and big business coalition lawyers arguments that the HST was imposed by the federal government and cannot be overturned by the province - came down clearly for responsibility of elected representatives to voters for their actions.

Arvay said the HST agreement signed by BC Liberal Finance Minister Colin Hansen should have been ratified through an Act of the BC Legislature - as HSTs were in every other province that has the tax - but was not.

"If the Executive [cabinet] can enter into this agreement, there is no accountability," Arvay said.

"If in the next election you voted the entire provincial government and the entire federal goverrnment out of office and you still couldn't get rid of the tax - where is the accountability?" Arvay asked, incredulously.

"They're not going to be accountable for giving away BC's taxation ability and not being able to get it back?"

Arvay said it was clear why the BC Liberals didn't pass HST legislation and instead only repealed the provincial sales tax - and he argued that Section 53 of the Constitution Act makes that illegal.

"The government was afraid to go to the Legislature - and that's exactly why Section 53 exists," he said.

Then addressing Baumann very directly, Arvay said the Chief Justice should rule that the BC government Order In Council imposing the HST is unconstitutional.

"Strike down the OIC , strike down the agreement and ensure accountability for taxation exists," Arvay concluded.

A mostly sympathetic courtroom of observers broke into applause for Arvay after Bauman departed.

Earlier, provincial government lawyer George Copley argued that the Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination Agreement that implemented the HST is not a law and therefore did not need to be the subject of provincial legislation.

“CITCA is not coercive. It is not a law....It is a federal-provincial agreement, a common understanding,” he said, calling it a perfect example of co-operative federalism. “CITCA does not impose a new tax on British Columbia," Copley said, according to the Globe and Mail's Rod Mickleburgh.

Following Copley, big business coalition lawyer Peter Gall argued similarly that provincial legislation was not necessary because the HST had been approved by federal legislation.

"It is an act of Parliament that imposed the tax and not the agreement that was entered into between the province and the federal government.
"Parliament has the jurisdiction to include B.C in the HST. It's really that simple," Gall told the court, according to Province newspaper reporter John Bermingham.

Note: I was only able to attend the final portion of today's hearing - please follow the links above for full accounts of the Copley and Gall arguments.

The big business coalition begins a separate legal action Wednesday to have the citizens Initiative petition thrown out, arguing that it is a federal matter.

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BC Liberals, big business & Elections BC defy the people's will on Fight HST petition

Fight HST lawyer Joe Arvay with Bill Tieleman, Bill Vander Zalm & Chris Delaney

Look Who's Derailing Democracy in BC

Bill Tieleman's 24 hours/The Tyee column

Tuesday August 17, 2010

By Bill Tieleman

"If recall is successful, people in government will make decisions based on whether they will be re-elected or recalled instead of what's best for the province."

- B.C. Liberal MLA Eric Foster

It's hard to underestimate the contempt and disdain B.C. Liberal MLAs have for the voters of this province.

But Eric Foster tries pretty darn hard to make it clear -- he knows better than you do what's best for the province -- so butt out!

What a concept. Elected representatives actually doing what the people who voted them into office want done, or lose their jobs.

Instead Vernon-Monashee MLA Foster and his B.C. Liberal colleagues are doing everything they can to overturn the will of the people.

And their financial supporters in big business are even trying to block democracy itself.

This week a coalition of big business groups who have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the B.C. Liberal Party will be in B.C. Supreme Court in a legal action that could invalidate the Fight HST citizens initiative petition signed by 705,643 voters.

That's the initiative to kill the Harmonized Sales Tax -- the first-ever successful petition since the legislation was introduced in 1994.

I am very proud of my role working with Fight HST leader and initiative proponent Bill Vander Zalm to allow voters to democratically express their strong opposition to the tax.

But I am extremely saddened to see how the B.C. Liberal government, its business supporters and even Elections B.C. -- the independent body that regulates the initiative and all electoral issues -- have attempted to derail democracy.

Slamming the door to the Legislature

Let's be clear. The initiative process cannot, unfortunately, force the government to kill the HST.

All this successful initiative does is require the government to either introduce the draft HST Extinguishment Act in the B.C. Legislature -- or hold a non-binding province-wide vote on whether it should be introduced.

But once the HST Extinguishment Act has been formally presented in the Legislature, the government need not even call it for debate.

Or the B.C. Liberal majority could bring the act forward for a vote and then defeat it.

Nonetheless, a coalition of B.C. business groups is intent on blocking the non-binding HST Extinguishment Act from even being presented in the Legislature.

Why? The answer is obvious -- the businesses don't want B.C. Liberal MLAs to have to stand up in the Legislature and vote in favour of the HST by killing the act.

And they are willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to spare their unpopular political party the embarrassment of publicly supporting the hated HST.

Elections BC halts the process

That's bad enough, and hopefully the court will quickly reject their arguments, but what's worse is that Elections B.C. won't even follow the initiative legislation that clearly states after the petition is verified it "must" be sent to a Select Standing Committee of the Legislature.

Acting chief electoral officer Craig James, a clerk of the Legislature filling in until a new CEO is appointed, verified the initiative by means of a letter to Vander Zalm but no public statement, despite the importance of the event.

And in that letter James said that in "deference" to the business coalition court case he would not send the initiative to the committee until "a final determination is rendered by the court."

It could mean months -- or even years if the coalition loses and then appeals the decision -- before the initiative gets to the Legislature.

Just look at the seven years since the B.C. Legislature was raided and subsequent political corruption charges were laid against David Basi, Bob Virk and Aneal Basi in a trial that resumes September 13.

That's totally unacceptable and a violation of the Recall and Initiative Act, which gives no such powers to James to delay sending the petition.

The only possible grounds for a delay would be if a court injunction ordered Elections B.C. not to proceed -- but the business coalition has not even applied for one.

MLA Slater's about face

The B.C. Liberal MLAs who sit on the Select Standing Committee could correct Elections B.C.'s mistake by accepting Vander Zalm's suggestion that he send them the petition and HST Extinguishment Act to deal with directly, since it has been verified as passing.

Committee member and Boundary-Similkameen B.C. Liberal MLA John Slater agreed with the idea Saturday.

"We should be the ones looking at it, not the courts. I think the committee could look at that and make sure everybody's got all the facts. Let's get it back to the Committee and move forward," he told the Kelowna Courier.

With NDP MLAs already in favour, Slater's support would mean half the committee agreed.

But Slater's enthusiasm only lasted one day. Likely until someone in Premier Gordon Campbell's office called the rookie MLA and straightened him out.

By Sunday, Slater was telling media that no, it was actually up to Elections B.C. and not the MLAs

to send the initiative to the committee and he wouldn't accept it from Vander Zalm.

"It's got to come from BC Elections [sic]. We have no authority, period, without BC Elections being part of it. We've all heard the number, somewhere around 700,000 signatures, et cetera et cetera. And we've heard that BC Elections has said yes to all 85 ridings being complete. It's up to them to give it to us," Slater said, according to CKNW radio.

Ah yes, back to the independent Elections B.C. that won't follow its own legislative duties.

Go back to sleep?

But in case you are still worried about whether Elections B.C. can be trusted after verifying and then ignoring a petition duly signed by 705,643 voters -- one knowledgeable observer says just relax.

"I have complete confidence in Elections B.C.," he said.

That reassuring word comes from -- once again -- B.C. Liberal MLA Eric Foster.

We should all sleep easier now. Democracy is safe in B.C.

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Fight HST lawyer Joe Arvay makes masterful case in BC Supreme Court that HST is unconstitutional

Bill Vander Zalm outside BC Supreme Court Monday - Bill Tieleman photo

"There should be no taxation in British Columbia without representation."

With that call to arms, veteran constitutional lawyer Joe Arvay outlined powerful arguments against imposition of the Harmonized Sales Tax by the BC Liberal government without a vote in the BC Legislature to do so.

Arvay is acting for Fight HST and its leader, former Premier Bill Vander Zalm, in a BC Supreme Court legal action that seeks to have the HST declared unconstitutional.

The case is being heard by Chief Justice Robert Bauman andis opposed by the provincial government and a coalition of big business groups, who have launched their own legal action to overturn the successful Fight HST citizens Initiative petition signed by 705,643 voters.

"This is no small deal. People have fought wars over the right to representation before taxation," Arvay told Bauman in front of a standing-room-only court full of media and observers.

The big business coalition brought out its high-powered legal guns - former BC Liberal Attorney General Geoff Plant, now of Heenan Blaikie, colleague and longtime labour union adversary Peter Gall, former Labour Relations Board chair Don Munroe, also at Heenan Blaikie and University of BC constitutional law professor Robin Elliot.

The BC government is represented by veteran lawyer George Copley, who also attends the Basi-Virk/BC Legislature Raid trial on its behalf, and Alison Luke.

Arvay is assisted by Bruce Elwood and Alison Latimer.

Arvay's argument is that while the BC Liberal government repealed the previous Provincial Sales Tax it never passed legislation imposing the Harmonized Sales Tax - thereby violating Section 53 of the Constitution Act.

"In every other province that has the HST there was such a law - in BC there is no such law," Arvay said. "The whole point is to require a law and then a Bill before there is a tax."

Instead, Arvay stated, the HST was imposed through an agreement between the provincial and federal governments signed on BC's part by Finance Minister Colin Hansen.

"It's for the people's representatives to decide, not the Executive with the stroke of a pen in an office," Arvay said, referring to the Executive Branch of government - or cabinet.

Perhaps Arvay's most telling argument in his opening summary turned the BC-Ottawa HST deal - formally called the Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination agreement - on its head to make his point.

"In this agreement the provincial and federal governments agree what the Provincial Value Added Tax [provincial portion of the HST] shall be - 7% - and the province now takes the position that no legislation is required," Arvay said.

"And yet, in the Agreement itself the province, if it wants to change the rate, requires legislative consent," he concluded.

Arvay then cited numerous examples of federal politicians, including Conservative cabinet ministers, who publicly said that the decision to impose the HST was a provincial one, not a federal one.

Arvay also quoted BC Liberal provincial cabinet minister Mary Polak from Hansard, as saying that: "The HST has already been passed by the federal government."

That prompted Chief Justice Bauman to interject to laughter in the courtroom.

"Aren't we seeing an awful lot of rhetoric? Everyone's trying to deflect the criticism of who imposes the HST," Bauman said.

Arvay then summed up his argument that legislation imposing the 12% HST in BC does not constitutionally exist.

"There is no legislative approval at any level for an HST of 12%. The provincial component of the HST is not imposed by federal legislation alone," he said.

Outside the court Vander Zalm told media that the government was ignoring "the will of the people" by imposing the HST and had deliberately avoided legislation that would forced BC Liberal MLAs to vote in favour of the new tax.

"I'm sure if a vote were held today, it would be against the HST," Vander Zalm said.

The case continues Tuesday.

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