I have always greatly admired independent MLA Vicki Huntington, and she has been a strong and vocal advocate for her constituents. Often, the information she shares with her community should be shared with all British Columbians and this is no exception.
Read on, and see what Vicki and her office employees discovered after receiving the HST referendum ” Voters Guide” in the mail like many British Columbians did… the one emblazoned on the back page with ” An important Message from Elections BC.”
” Deceptive HST “Voters Guide” taints independence of legislature
Delta, B.C., 13 June – Did you receive the HST Referendum “Voters Guide” the other day? I did. And so did the good people whom I work with at the Ladner constituency office. The guide struck us as a peculiar, agenda-driven voter information package, so we phoned Elections BC to confirm that they had sent it.
No such luck.
An Elections BC employee advised us, in no uncertain terms, that the Ministry of Finance was responsible for the booklet – not Elections BC. The folks at Elections BC are an independent, non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly, after all.
We’re all used to receiving sneaky junk mail designed to deceive – only usually it’s from bad credit card companies, “sweepstake” marketing surveys and the like. Not propaganda from the Ministry of Finance. Add another page to the HST’s long story of deceit.
The booklet doesn’t identify its source. The only indication that you are reading a government-produced document is a dime-sized “British Columbia” logo positioned on the front corner, brushing up next to an image of a pencil eraser. Flip to the back page though, and you see, in emphasis, an “Important Notice to BC voters from Elections BC.”
This “voter’s guide” is a government PR document deliberately designed to make you think you are receiving valuable, non-partisan voter information from Elections BC.
Exploiting an independent office in such a premeditated and consciously partisan manner is simply unacceptable. It is beneath a government to do so, and disrespects voting British Columbians. Yet it is so typical of this government, isn’t it? The more we are told “things are different,” the more things stay the same. It is almost as if this government can’t help itself.
The BC government has a long way to go to prove that “change” is more than mere electioneering. It is one thing to see that the time-old “buy-the-vote” style of politics is clearly alive and well in BC today. It is quite another observe the contempt displayed by those in power when they seek to deceive the very people whom they represent.
The brochure, at its core, is deceptive: it purposely misleads the public and sullies an independent office of the Legislature. It is unacceptable politics. Good tax or bad tax, the government deceived us. And it continues to deceive us. And I am really tired of it. ~ Vicki Huntington”
The key line in this song is the very last one…
“Meet the new boss – same as the old boss”
For all the changes the songwriter was preaching throughout the song he ends by saying…nothing has changed.
Sound familiar?
We “Won’t get fooled again.” ( Thanks to MLA Lana Popham who posted this video on Facebook- wonderful choice!)
Countdown to tonights game… and tomorrows rally. Scroll down for the full scoop.
Westcoast Views with Laila Yuile 
I heard a story last night Laila, that Vicki Huntingdon had changed her mind and now, was in fact, supporting the HST because she thought 10% was the way to go. You should try and confirm that.
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Meet the new boss, same as the old boss? lol…further reinforces my pet name for Christy Clark. Premier CC (carbon copy)
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Laila
The link to the Popham post has gone. Just gone with the wind I guess. Never mind, keep up the good work. We up here in the interior identify your reporting as ‘from the heart via an astute brain’
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This is getting surreal. Elections BC has gone down a dark road here, since Gordon Campbell installed Craig James. This goes too far! Actually, every decision made with regards to this citizen’s initiative to date have been blatantly partisan. I think if EBC does not rectify this immediately, it’s time we appeal to Elections Canada to investigate. Well done, I’m sharing this article!
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http://www.vickihuntington.ca/content/voters-angry-because-they-cant-trust-liberals-fix-hst-fiasco
Vicki voted in favour of the reduction in the HST in the leg, IF the voters decide to keep it – the link above details her viewpoint on that vote and I can see her reasoning on that based on her ridings feelings.
Kim, this is very nefarious!! I’m not sure how this can even be legal, it is certainly not ethical and yep, the new leader is the same as the old!
Jack, thank you for your kind words as always – I just might find my way up there for an overnighter shortly!
Brad I like that. Carbon Copy premier..lol.. although she sure tries to avoid him!!!
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And Chrusty says”TRUST US”? Go to Laila’s top of the page to start, 100 reasons to get rid of the Lieberal Government.
HST, Something to think about:
You do realize that it’s THREE years before we get a 10% HST, if they actually lower it, which somehow, I doubt. I don’t trust them, never will.
So for 3 years they rake in “our” money, business rakes in “our” money, we pay out on more, and more and more. Christy to the ordinary janes and joes, too bad, so sad. We’re doing it for your “family”. Bull$hit Christy, and your despicable gang.
Vote YES to extinguish the HST.
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Like Vicki says in her statement I just linked to, she doubts they would reduce it, coming up with instead some kind of excuse…. again. This government has broken nearly every promise they ever made – Christy has already shown a couple of times she is playing to the same beat, most recently saying she wouldn’t talk about reducing the HST prior to the referendum, then doing it within a short time of saying that..lol… what a joke!
This link is wonderful and shows what a twit the premier is. I can’t believe I just called her a twit, but that is the first thing that came to mind..lol
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Leyne+Clark+surreal+spin+role/4948956/story.html
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I used to say, just when you think the BC Liberals couldn’t get any lower, they do. I no longer say that. The BC Liberals, will sink to the 9th ring of Dante’s inferno, to keep the HST. I won’t be surprised if they cheat the referendum vote either.
I thought Campbell and Hansen couldn’t sink any lower when, their election lie the HST wasn’t on their radar and the small provincial deficit was exposed. How wrong I was. Christy too will sink to any depth, and use every dirty tactic in the book, to keep the HST. I won’t even comment on Falcon, because, my comment wouldn’t pass the censor. I will say, he is every bit as loathsome and evil, as Campbell and Hansen are.
Be very careful at the rally people. I wouldn’t be in the least surprised, if the BC Liberals sneak someone in, cause trouble and have the police called in. Some of you bloggers, have been victimized before.
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Well done, Laila, will pop a link up at The Beav in a bit.
Link to HST Voters Guide
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http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/20333/7/hst+and+the+double+barrel+shotgun?
A must read.
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You are right Curt, that article Is Required reading. It is very good. As to the Liberal mail out, I noted who it was from and promptly deposited it in the recycle bin. Not worth the paper it was printed on.
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So, basically, we’re all getting setup to be screwed over yet again by the LIEberals.
Why can’t we learn?
Great links Curt and creekside1, thanks.
And Laila, noone could ever fault you for naming CC as a twit. She is.
It’s no different than saying birds fly, and that LIEberals lie.
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Actually, Canadianbud, to give credit where it’s due, the same link is in Laila’s post above but I couldn’t get it to work for me yesterday so I reposted it in case others were also having trouble with it. Seems to be working now.
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I just read that Les Layne column, and the thought occurred to me… Christy Clark is like “Chatty Cathy”, the doll from the 1970s who, if you pulled her string, uttered canned phrases.
I’m guessing Chrisy was only issued a limited number of pre-programmed messages, and it looks like she got up to the max there and fried a few circuits. Then all the phrases just came tumbling out, in no particular order, for no rhyme or reason. Chatty Cathy going off deep end.
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ROTHFLMAO
Thanks for the smile Sunny !
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A very accurate description of the CC ( Carbon Copy ) premier Sunny. Thanks.
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Thanks for the correction creekside1, yeah I was having link issues too, thanks for the repost.
Great links too Laila, thanks for all the hard work you do to help keep us informed 🙂
And a great laugh by Sunny.. I totally remember those dolls as my youngest sister had one
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If anyone has been phone ‘polled’ by the fine folks at the Smart Tax Alliance (ie. the people who are actually benefitting financially from the tax shift) I’d sure like to hear the details.
Why?
Because I think, just maybe that I might have their ‘script’ and am looking for confirmation (or not).
It’s here.
.
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I did not do any further research other than reading the following, as copied from the BC Electoral Office report on the 2002 First Nations treaty referendum.
” Many voters returned their ballots without the certification envelope, or with the declaration on the
certification envelope unsigned. These votes were not considered in the count, as it was not
possible to ensure that they were cast by registered voters, and that no individual voted more than
once.”
Is there a potential for the same problem with the HST referendum?
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Post coming later on the rally and some documents I have that fell from heaven, guys, been occupied with strata business this morning – Mortocycle guy – have you seen the ballot yet? It is a complicated procedure and yes it has to be exactly to the letter. I’ll see if I can get a photo showing it all.
RossK, I never get those calls being unlisted..lol.. but I do have some other interesting tidbits.
SunnyD, Cheryl has your comment posted on Facebook, where it is making everyone laugh there as well. Chatty Christy indeed.
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[…] smiley face on that HST information package that was sent out, you know why it is on the pages of a Finance Ministry propaganda package. Who is tracking the number of jobs lost because of the […]
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