XPost: bc.politics, van.general, vic.general   
      
   He knew he was toast in the next provincial election when he saw how many   
   anti-HST   
   signatures had been gathered in his constituency (more than had voted for him   
   in the last   
   election).  So he made the most strategic move he could make:  get out now,   
   sit as an   
   independent, and hope for a re-elect in the next election.  Seems to be   
   working. . . . .   
   ____________________________________   
      
   June 13, 2010 - From Monday's Globe and Mail   
   Lekstrom a hometown hero after resignation   
      
   After stepping down as energy minister, former mayor of Dawson Creek gets   
   thumbs up from   
   residents   
   Former cabinet minister Blair Lekstrom may have seriously ruffled feathers   
   within his own   
   party, but his decision last Friday to leave Liberal ranks over implementation   
   of the HST   
   has made him a hero among the hometown folks of Dawson Creek.   
      
   "The response has been overwhelmingly in favour of Blair and his decision to   
   step down,"   
   local councillor Terry McFadyen said Sunday.   
      
   "I don't know of anybody who doesn't agree with what he did."   
      
   Ninety-seven per cent of respondents in a small online poll by the Dawson   
   Creek Daily News   
   were in favour of Mr. Lekstrom's resignation from his Energy Minister post and   
   the Liberal   
   caucus.   
      
   Mr. Lekstrom, a former mayor of Dawson Creek, said his Peace River South   
   constituents are   
   strongly against the harmonized sales tax. He called on the government to   
   delay its   
   implementation of the HST to give the public a chance to weigh in.   
      
   Mr. Lekstrom attended a local air cadets show on the weekend. In an interview   
   afterward,   
   he said he's been heartened by local reaction to his resignation.   
      
   "I haven't had a negative reaction from anybody. It's been very positive," he   
   said, while   
   rejecting any suggestion that he is some kind of hero.   
      
   "I have no regrets, but I never forget the impact this has on my Liberal   
   colleagues. I   
   think of that every day."   
      
   He said he intends to seek re-election as an MLA in 2013, although with no   
   clear   
   indication at this point under what party banner, if any, he might run.   
      
   Alvin Stedel, who has spearheaded the anti-HST sign-up campaign in the region,   
   said Mr.   
   Lekstrom is almost certain to be re-elected, now that he has withdrawn from   
   the Liberal   
   caucus. "He's already a champion of this area."   
      
   Mr. Stedel said residents of this predominantly rural area are particularly   
   outraged over   
   the Liberals' embrace of the HST so soon after the last election, when they   
   had previously   
   opposed the tax.   
      
   "Up here, your word is your bond. ... You don't say one thing and then go and   
   do something   
   else," he said. "That makes people mad, and when they get mad up here, they   
   don't just sit   
   and home. They get out and do something."   
      
   He predicted a grim electoral future for Mr. Lekstrom's neighbouring Liberal   
   MLA, Pat   
   Pimm, representing Peace River North.   
      
   "If he doesn't do what Blair did, he's toast," declared Mr. Stedel.   
      
   Feelings in these northeast ridings are aggravated by their proximity to the   
   Alberta   
   border, which has no provincial sales tax at all.   
      
   The introduction of the HST is likely to discourage nearby Albertans from   
   shopping in   
   Dawson Creek and may prompt local residents to shop more in Alberta,   
   particularly for   
   big-ticket items, such as cars and appliances.   
      
   Mr. Lekstrom said the issue has galvanized the public like no other matter   
   he's seen since   
   moving to the region 25 years ago.   
      
   "I've never seen people like this. Ever."   
      
   He expects to spend the summer "working for my constituents," and taking a   
   major   
   motorcycle holiday with his wife.   
      
   Meanwhile, Vicki Huntington, the first independent MLA to be elected to the   
   legislature in   
   decades, applauded Mr. Lekstrom's courage in deciding to join her as an elected   
   independent.   
      
   "It's not an easy decision, but it's probably the most powerful statement a   
   sitting member   
   can make," said Ms. Huntington, adding she has offered her help to her new   
   colleague if he   
   wants to talk.   
      
   "I haven't regretted running as an independent one second. I can deliver to my   
   constituents what any backbencher can deliver, and I can deliver it honestly."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)