XPost: bc.politics, vic.general, van.general   
      
   Yeah, same guy who campaigned on  "no HST . . . . . no HST . . . . . no HST".   
   Same guy that managed to stall the courts SEVEN YEARS before the raids on the   
   Legislature made   
   it into Court.   
   Now he's trying to pull this:   
   ______________________________   
      
   Last Updated: Thursday, August 12, 2010   
      
   B.C. premier denies anti-HST interference   
   B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell denies exerting any political pressure to impede   
   the petition   
   against the province's harmonized sales tax.   
   Former premier Bill Vander Zalm has accused Campbell and chief electoral   
   officer Craig James of   
   thwarting democracy by stalling the eventual petition process.   
      
   Campbell was in California on Thursday to talk to state legislators.   
      
   "I'm not going to comment on Mr. Vander Zalm's comments," he said. "It doesn't   
   help for anyone   
   to cast aspersions on anyone else."   
      
   The anti-HST petition was verified Wednesday, which means that it met the   
   threshold of 10 per   
   cent of voters' signatures from each of B.C.'s 85 ridings.   
      
   But James said in a letter to Vander Zalm that a business coalition's   
   challenge of the petition   
   campaign must be dealt with in B.C. Supreme Court before the petition result   
   can be addressed.   
      
   The court challenge questions the petition's constitutional validity.   
      
   According to the law under which the petition was conducted, it must be sent   
   to a committee of   
   the legislature, which would decide what next step to take.   
      
   Court hearing next week   
   Campbell said he doesn't tell James what to do.   
      
   "Craig James has been someone who has served the public for more than a decade   
   … in an   
   independent manner. He is doing, I'm sure, what he considers to be the best   
   thing that he can   
   possibly do for all the people of British Columbia."   
      
   There would be no comment from Elections BC while the issue is before the   
   courts, a spokesman   
   in James's office said Thursday.   
      
   B.C. Opposition Leader Carole James said she demanded in a letter to Campbell   
   on Thursday that   
   he recall the legislature and debate scrapping the HST. The fact the issue is   
   before the courts   
   in no way stops the government from debating it, James said in Victoria.   
      
   If the court rules the petition is constitutionally valid, the legislative   
   committee would have   
   to decide whether to send a bill to the legislature withdrawing the HST or to   
   put the issue to   
   a province-wide referendum.   
      
   The court hearing is scheduled for the week of Aug. 16. Whatever the court   
   decides, appeals of   
   that decision could take years and leave the petition in limbo, anti-HST   
   campaign organizers   
   suggested Wednesday.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)