XPost: bc.politics, van.general, vic.general   
   From: NoMoreCons@cda.ca   
      
   They know which buttons to push, but do they know that no one trusts the ones   
   pushing the   
   buttons?   
      
   This is how THIS particular BC 'Liberal' thinks he can gain support to be   
   Premier of British   
   Columbia.  He would 'hurry along' the referendum on the HST - by 3 WHOLE   
   MONTHS !   
      
   And as to a hike in the minimum wage in BC?  - see the quote from the BC   
   Liberals' website   
   below.   
   ______________________________________   
      
   Times Colonist - November 25, 2010   
      
   Liberal leadership contender George Abbott would hold earlier HST referendum   
      
   Victoria, B.C. - The B.C. Liberal government has hit the “ditch of public   
   opinion” and needs   
   time to regain the trust of voters before calling another election, leadership   
   candidate   
   George Abbott said today.   
      
   The former education minister, who resigned from cabinet to enter the   
   leadership race,   
   rejected the idea of calling a snap vote if he is chosen to replace Premier   
   Gordon Campbell   
   at a convention in February.   
      
   “I frankly think that the B.C. Liberal party and the B.C. Liberal government   
   is, at this   
   point, at a pretty low point in the ditch of public opinion,” he said. “I hope   
   that the next   
   bump we feel is the vehicle coming out of the ditch and onto the road as we   
   move forward.”   
      
   But he said any bump in support following a Liberal leadership convention will   
   be “transient   
   and illusory.”   
   Abbott said there is “significant and deep-seated anger” among voters in B.C.   
   today, and the   
   Liberals will need more than a new leader to regain their trust.   
      
   “I think that we need to take some time and establish a new style of   
   government,” he said.   
      
   Abbott, who announced his candidacy in Vancouver, claimed the support of at   
   least nine   
   fellow MLAs, including Environment Minister Murray Coell from Saanich North   
   and the Islands   
   and backbencher Don McRae from Comox Valley.   
      
   Abbott, who has been in cabinet since the Liberals were first elected in 2001,   
   said he’s   
   proud of the government’s accomplishments. But he acknowledged that government   
   failed to   
   properly consult the public before bringing in the controversial harmonized   
   sales tax, which   
   he supports.   
      
   “We owe the public better than we delivered on the HST,” he said.   
      
   A referendum on the tax is slated for next fall, but Abbott said that’s too   
   long to let the   
   wounds fester. If elected premier, he promised a a referendum on the tax   
   before June 25,   
   2011.   
      
   “If the HST is rejected by a simple majority, you’ll see a new budget in the   
   fall laying out   
   the plan to extinguish the HST,” he said.   
      
   Abbott also promised:   
      
   - to review the $8-an-hour minimum wage, which the lowest in Canada.   
      
   - to introduce a new tax credit to help families renovate their homes.   
      
   - to bring in a new health and wellness tax credit to help families   
   participate physical and   
   cultural activities.   
   ____________________________________   
      
   FROM THE B.C. LIBERAL WEBSITE:   
      
   NDP CLAIM: “One of the best ways to stimulate B.C.’s economy is to put money   
   in the pockets   
   of the families who will spend it. A $10 minimum wage will put millions of   
   dollars back into   
   local economies.” WRONG   
      
   FACT: If Carole James had bothered to read the research paper on minimum wage   
   that she cited   
   in her own news release today she would know this claim is not true.  The   
   Fraser Institute   
   study cited by the NDP says that, based on conservative estimates, the NDP’s   
   proposal to   
   increase the minimum wage would result in up to 52,000 jobs lost.  The report   
   goes on to say   
   that “Increasing B.C.’s minimum wage to $10 per hour will have a profoundly   
   negative effect   
   on employment opportunities for young and low-skill workers, and will have   
   almost no effect   
   on those most in need of income and a job.”   Only the NDP would think adding   
   $450 million   
   in new costs on small business, destroying over 50,000 jobs and introducing   
   polices that   
   will have a “profoundly negative effect on employment” would somehow   
   “stimulate B.C.’s   
   economy.”   
   ________________________________________   
      
   When did George Abbott speak out in favour of a hike in the lowest-in-Canada   
   minimum wage of   
   BC in the past?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)