XPost: bc.politics, vic.general, van.general   
   From: stercus-accidit@cda.ca   
      
   As if British Columbians didn't expect dirty tricks from the likes of the BC   
   Liberals.   
   But it's still good to see them as nervous and willing to break rules . . .    
   they know a   
   whole lot of them are on the way out - BEFORE any provincial election.   
   _________________________________________   
      
   Comox Valley Echo - January 4, 2011   
      
   Anti-recall advertisements investigated   
      
   Elections BC responds to complaints   
      
   Don McRae's anti-recall team is being investigated by Elections BC this week   
   over   
   anonymous advertisements that target the New Democrats.   
      
   Complaints were lodged against the MLA's campaign last week and Elections BC   
   says there   
   are concerns the ads could impact the recall petition circulating in   
   Victoria's Oak   
   Bay-Gordon Head riding.   
      
   The ads take aim at the NDP, alleging the party is behind recall efforts and   
   warning   
   people against being intimidated to sign the recall petition.   
      
   There's no name on the ads, but the anti-recall manager for MLA McRae,   
   confirmed the   
   comments are from their office.   
      
   The campaign is geared towards revealing secret NDP plans for the recall,   
   based on   
   documents leaked to the media last year. The transcripts show party president,   
   Moe Sihota,   
   encouraging members to take part in the campaign as individuals.   
      
   "We just wanted to put out an information note ... we (didn't) use our name   
   because we   
   don't want to bring too much attention to recall from our side," said Kevin   
   Tevington,   
   manager for the counter recall campaign.   
      
   "We aren't trying to hide anything ... and this is legal. We aren't required   
   to put   
   disclaimers on ads before the recall starts."   
      
   But Elections BC isn't so sure the ads are aboveboard.   
      
   Advertisements published during a recall campaign have to be registered with   
   Elections BC,   
   which organizes and administers provincial elections.   
      
   There's no recall petition circulating in the Comox Valley yet - but   
   canvassers are   
   handing one around two hours south of Courtenay that this advertisement could   
   affect.   
      
   "The people who sign must have been registered to vote in the last provincial   
   election and   
   those people might have moved during that time from Victoria to the Comox   
   Valley," said a   
   spokesperson for Elections BC.   
      
   "The ad is very general and could be applied anywhere in B.C. We have to see   
   if it could   
   impact the decision of people to sign and whether the proper process was   
   followed."   
      
   A violation will mean a warning for the McRae office, which will have help   
   ensuring the   
   slip-up doesn't happen again. It was likely unintentional, Elections BC said.   
      
   Intentional or not, the information was "extremely misleading and borderline   
   libelous,"   
   said Kassandra Dycke, president of the Comox Valley NDP Constituency   
   Association.   
      
   It was morally wrong to write an accusatory statement and not bother to put a   
   name to it,   
   she said.   
      
   The campaign is based on leaked transcripts from NDP executives, but the local   
   NDP   
   president claims she's never seen them. She's received no encouragement or   
   direction on   
   the recall from the provincial party and believes the decision to take part   
   has always   
   been local.   
      
   "The petition is locally organized and locally distributed, so we as a local   
   association   
   had to decide if we wanted to get involved with it. We decided nost to," she   
   said.   
      
   "Our members were divided, with some vehemently opposed ... so it seemed   
   inappropriate to   
   take a position on (recall)."   
      
   Members have always been welcomed to take part in the recall campaign but to   
   claim the NDP   
   is pulling the strings behind the recall is wrong and offensive to canvassers,   
   Dycke said.   
      
   "People involved are acting on the basis of their values and to have the   
   anti-recall folks   
   point a finger at them and say they must be NDP is ... disturbing."   
      
   Recall campaign organizers in the Comox Valley have already shot down the ads   
   as being   
   "sneaky and untruthful" and plan on rallying more support at a campaign launch   
   this   
   Saturday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Zocalo Café.   
      
   The recall is attempting to unseat McRae over the unpopular harmonized sales   
   tax. He'll be   
   the second target in the recall campaign, following Ida Chong, MLA for Oak   
   Bay-Gordon   
   Head.   
      
   Organizers plan to submit an application to start the recall petition to   
   Elections BC,   
   this month.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)