Editor, The News:
Re: Done with Dalton recall campaign continues (The News, Feb. 25).
Corisa Bell is reported as saying that HST will cost the ‘average wage-earner’ an extra $1,300 per year.
If my math is correct, that means that an average family with two working parents is spending $52,000 a year, or almost $4,500 per month on items that were not previously subject to GST.
That’s not expenditure on food, which has no HST, and not on consumer goods or utilities, which were charged GST previously.
So I would like to ask Ms. Bell how she arrived at this figure, since I’m pretty sure the average family is not spending $52,000 a year on other items.
When Ms. Bell and her recall crew come to ask you to sign their petition, please make sure you understand their ‘facts’ and ensure they can back them up.
Also, be aware that recalling MLA Marc Dalton or any politician will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and really achieve nothing.
Recalling one politician will not oust the Liberals from power and, therefore, will not change the status quo at all. It is simply a waste of money.
Anne Rostvig
Maple Ridge
<h4>Never again</h4>
Editor, The News:
Re: Dalton recall ‘frivolous’ (Letters, March 2).
I see that Randy Hawes is calling the imminent recall campaign against fellow Liberal MLA Marc Dalton “frivolous” on the grounds that the legislation was intended for use only if there was “malfeasance” on the part of an MLA.
The legal definition of malfeasance in this context is: “legal or moral wrongdoing while in office”.
By that measure, the entire B.C. Liberal caucus is, in my view, fair game for recall.
Lying to the electorate certainly and indisputably qualifies as malfeasance.
The minister of finance had on his desk a report on the HST in November 2008, at least seven months prior to the election.
Having been an acting director in the B.C. government, I know this report would have had to have been requested several months earlier than that. Ministry personnel do not produce such reports unless told to.
The Liberal party line is that the decision was made just days before the election and so there was no way to get the word out to the people before the election. That is simply not credible.
Every Liberal caucus member would have been privy to this decision before election day.
Not one MLA spoke up to say, ‘Hang on! We promised you last week (or last month or yesterday) that we would not implement the HST in B.C., but for the following reasons that has now changed and we are going to implement it.’
Not one MLA spoke up.
Mr. Dalton did not speak up. Neither did Mr. Hawes.
That, in my opinion, constitutes lying to the electorate.
Then there is the ‘moral’ question. How can anyone think that shifting $2 billion a year from big business to ordinary working people (about $1,300 per year per average wage earner) is in any way moral?
The electorate of every riding in B.C. deserves to have an MLA who actually works for them, first and foremost. Mr. Dalton works for the Liberal party, not his constituents. He told me that himself; so much for the Oath of Office.
So, Mr. Hawes is wrong. The recall campaign against Mr. Dalton is not “frivolous”.
The same is true of all the recall campaigns.
As for the NDP pushing recall, while they may benefit, but they are not the driving force. The people of B.C. are.
I voted Liberal in the past four elections. Never again.
Chris Ryan
Mission