XPost: bc.politics, van.general, vic.general   
      
   A recall of Gordon Campbell ?   Sounds like this thing has a life of its own -   
   and lots of   
   breath in it.   
   _________________________________________________   
      
   HST update: signature surge continues   
      
   By Vaughn Palmer 17 - May 2010   
      
   Just six weeks into the campaign, organizers of the petition against the   
   harmonized sales   
   tax are reporting phenomenal success in meeting their ambitious targets.   
      
   They reported Monday that their platoons of canvassers have already gathered   
   the   
   equivalent of 15 per cent of the signatures on the voters list in 51   
   provincial ridings,   
   27 of them government-held, 13 of them represented by cabinet ministers. The   
   latest   
   ministers to see their own ridings embrace the anti-HST campaign with apparent   
   enthusiasm   
   include Kevin Krueger, Kevin Falcon, Ida Chong, and  Shirley Bond.   
      
   The anti-HST organizers also say they've crossed the 15 per cent threshold in   
   23 NDP-held   
   ridings and Delta South, represented by independent MLA Vicki Huntington.   
      
   Technically, the petition needs the signatures of 10 per cent of those on the   
   voters list   
   in each of the 85 provincial ridings. Organizers boosted their campaign target   
   to 15 per   
   cent in expectations that many signatures will be rejected during the vetting   
   process at   
   Elections B.C.   
      
   Having said that, they report having crossed the minimum  threshold in 72   
   ridings.   
      
   The main challenges remaining are some big city ridings, mostly in Vancouver,   
   Burnaby and   
   Richmond, where it has proven to be difficult to get access to apartment   
   buildings and   
   condominiums.   
      
   But with seven weeks still  to go,  it is increasingly likely that the   
   petition drive will   
   hit the mark well before the July 5 deadline.   
      
   Best showing to date:  Boundary-Similkameen, held by rookie Liberal John   
   Slater.   
      
   The petitioners are claiming 10,216 signatures against the HST in his riding   
   alone, the   
   equivalent of about 35 per cent of the names on the voters list, or three and   
   a half times   
   what is needed for the initiative petition and just short of the 40 per cent   
   needed to   
   successfully recall a sitting MLA.   
      
   Lowest tally:  Vancouver-Point Grey, the premier's riding. Fewer than 2,000   
   signatures   
   gathered to date, where 4,000 are needed for the 10 per cent mark and 6,000   
   for the   
   just-to-be-on-the-safe-side 15 per cent.   
      
   Organizers have talked about targeting Campbell for a one-shot recall if the   
   government   
   does not respond to the intiative petition by extinguishing the HST.   
      
   For that effort to succeed, it would need 16,000 valid signatures.   
      
   Note, too, that recall is a separate process and signatures gathered for an   
   initiative may   
   not, by law, be used for any other purpose.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)