XPost: bc.politics, van.general, vic.general   
   From: cognomen@domus.ca   
      
   HST not the lone B.C. Liberal time bomb set to explode   
   Michael Smyth April 8, 2010   
      
   Think things are going badly for Gordon Campbell and his B.C. Liberals right   
   now? Just   
   wait - you ain't seen nothin' yet.   
      
   This has already been a brutal week for the Libs with Tuesday's kickoff of   
   ex-premier Bill   
   Vander Zalm's petition drive against the HST.   
      
   The Zalm took his campaign right into Campbell's Vancouver-Point Grey riding -   
   and   
   promptly signed up 475 HST-haters in one of the safest Liberal seats in B.C.   
      
   "We were able to gather 10 per cent of the required signatures for Point Grey   
   in just one   
   day," gushed Vander Zalm, who's using the B.C. Recall and Initiative Act to   
   try and derail   
   the harmonized sales tax with a frantic 90-day petition blitz.   
      
   The Zalm's army must sign up 10 per cent of all registered voters in every   
   riding to force   
   an HST repeal bill into the legislature or trigger a provincewide referendum.   
      
   In Peace River North - another slice of "safe" Liberal real estate -   
   petition-wielding HST   
   opponents signed up 1,820. That's over half the amount needed in that riding   
   on Day 1!   
   Yup, a lousy week to be a Lib, for sure. But shhh! Do you hear that   
   tick-tick-ticking? It's   
   the sound of all the other Liberal time bombs getting set to explode. They   
   include:   
      
   B.C. RAIL CORRUPTION TRIAL: More than six years after police executed search   
   warrants at   
   the legislature, the trial of former Liberal political staffers facing   
   corruption charges   
   in the $1-billion sale of B.C. Rail is finally set to start May 3.   
      
   Several powerful Liberal government insiders - past and present - are expected   
   to testify.   
   The cross-examination of witnesses could be brutal and damaging. It's a case   
   the Libs had   
   hoped would never make it to court - but now the gavel is coming down. Hard.   
      
   B.C. PLACE CASINO: Questions continue to swirl about the role Liberal insider   
   T. Richard   
   Turner played in the $1-billion-plus deal to put a retractable roof on B.C.   
   Place and   
   build a hotel-casino complex right next door. Turner has a personal interest   
   in Paragon   
   Development, the firm that landed the casino deal.   
      
   Another company Turner heads - TitanStar Investment - gave $50,000 to the   
   Liberals before   
   last May's election, just months before Paragon was named the preferred bidder   
   for the   
   casino project. Turner has also admitted phoning cabinet minister Kevin   
   Krueger and   
   warning him that the casino project might be jeopardized if the government   
   didn't build   
   the retractable roof.   
      
   On Wednesday, NDP critic Spencer Herbert asked lobbyist czar Paul Fraser to   
   investigate   
   whether Turner broke B.C. lobbying laws. As they say in the politics racket,   
   this one has   
   legs.   
      
   JOHN LES PROBE: The former solicitor-general remains under police   
   investigation over   
   allegedly crooked land deals in his Chilliwack riding, back when he was mayor.   
   A special   
   prosecutor on the case has received a lengthy police report, and a decision on   
   charges is   
   expected soon.   
      
   If Les escapes, it would be some badly needed good news for the Libs, and Les   
   would likely   
   return to cabinet. If he's criminally charged, the hits will just keep on   
   coming.   
      
   E-HEALTH SCANDAL: Lawyers for three government bureaucrats facing 19 criminal   
   corruption   
   charges in the province's e-health program appeared in court Wednesday. The   
   case was   
   adjourned until May, when more damaging fallout is expected.   
      
   RECALL: If Vander Zalm's petition drive fails, he can always start up recall   
   campaigns   
   against vulnerable Liberal MLAs. Recall efforts can legally begin Nov. 15.   
      
   Judging by the way things are going right now, they'll be ripe for the   
   plucking.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)