Why I am speaking out against Gordon Campbell’s HST
Aug 22, 2009 Random Leave a comment
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There is an unwritten rule that former premiers don’t speak out against sitting premiers regarding policy decisions. The reason for this is that being the leader of the government is a distinct and rare privilege. Once you’ve been there, you’ve had your chance to implement the changes you wanted to see, and the people who follow you are entitled to do the same.
But the problem here is that we have a premier who is operating more and more by stealth. The consequences of his actions are extremely damaging to our province, and in many cases, can never be reversed. The HST is just the latest betrayal—but for most British Columbians, it is the straw that broke the camel’s back.
It is one thing for a party or a candidate to promise something, and then, after being elected to government, find that the promise was unrealistic, or that new information makes implementing it impossible. In such cases, even though the public is rightly disappointed and angered, they will often forgive such a “broken promise”. It is quite another thing to promise “not” to do something, and then to turn around and do exactly the opposite.
Such a maneuver is incompetent at best, downright deceitful at worst. Take B.C. Rail for example. Gordon Campbell, having lost the 1996 election after revealing plans to sell the people’s railway, promised on a stack of Bibles never to sell it, or to even contemplate selling it. The ink had barely dried on the new premier’s letterhead when he arranged for a 999-year lease of the railway and the right of way. That is not a broken promise—that is a total fraud.
Then came B.C. Hydro. We were told Hydro was sacred. Then, we were told that in order to make it more efficient and cost effective, it had to be run by a big multinational in Bermuda. But hydro rates went up, not down.
