As most know by now, the HST Repeal Initiative from Bill Vander Zalm is now underway. It requires 10% of the voters in BC's 85 Electoral Districts sign a Elections-BC endorsed petition.
Organizers have to get 2,068 signatures (10% of voters in Cariboo-Chilcotin) in the Cariboo-Chilcotin Electoral District to make the HST Repeal Initiative valid here
They have until Monday, July 5th to collect the required signatures in all 85 Electoral Districts to be valid. Of course, the organizers of this petition have indicated that they intend to collect 15% of voters' signatures in all 85 Electoral Districts to ensure the initiative petition succeeds. Should the petition should be certified by Elections BC as proper, then the petition is referred, with the HST Extinguishment Act, to the Legislature's Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives. The Committee could then refer the proposed Act to the Legislature for introduction or refer the proposed Act to the voters' in a referendum which would happen on September 24th, 2011. If the referendum is successful, then the Provincial Government would be bound to introduce the HST Extinguishment Act but it is not required of the Provincial Government to pass this Act
In the meantime, those who are opposed to the HST on November 12th, 2010, which is 18 months after the last general election on May 12th, 2009, can initiate recall proceedings against MLA's. I have no doubt that those who are vocal about the HST will initiate recall proceedings against Donna Barnett and those Liberal MLA's who won on May 12th, 2009 and won their riding with less than 1,000 votes. The Recall and Initiative Act speaks to the mechanics around how a recall petition works. You can get more info at http://www.bclaws.ca/ or http://www.elections.bc.ca
As an aside, in order to recall a MLA successfully, one has to collect the signatures of 40% of the voters in an Electoral District. So, if Donna Barnett were to be recalled (and I'm biased here - but I hope that voters do not recall her as I don't feel it is deserved), 8,272 voters would have to sign a recall petition agreeing to recall her as a MLA. If all NDP voters in the 2009 Election (6,171 voters) + 2,101 of the 6,259 BC Liberal voters signed a recall petition form in a 60 day period and Elections BC certified the recall petition as proper then the seat of Cariboo-Chilcotin would be declared vacant and a new by-election would be held to fill the seat in 2011
Indeed, provincial politics will get interesting as we get closer and closer towards the end of 2010. Get ready to see as many as 7 Recall Campaigns potentially get fired up by the end of the year
Will we see a by-election in the riding of Cariboo-Chilcotin and even Kamloops-North Thompson...? Time will only tell.
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