Protesters demonstrate against the HST on the Victoria legislature's front lawn last august, before the Throne Speech announcing the harmonized tax.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Furious with a ruling by Elections BC that sank a planned government advertising campaign on the harmonized sales tax, Finance Minister Colin Hansen is accusing the independent agency of failing to hold critics of the new tax to the same standards.
"Elections BC now has an obligation to enforce this very narrow interpretation on everybody without exception," Mr. Hansen said.
The government's leaflet was set to hit doorsteps before the HST takes effect on July 1. But that would put it in the middle of a formal petition campaign that seeks to repeal the HST, which blends the provincial sales tax with the federal goods and services tax. This week, Elections BC concluded the contents of the proposed mailer would constitute a violation of the rules that govern the citizen-driven initiative process.
"We have reviewed the mailer, consulted with legal counsel and find that it may be considered to be initiative advertising," wrote Linda Johnson, deputy chief electoral officer. The government has not registered as an opponent and therefore cannot spend what would likely have been at least $2-million on advertising until the petition period ends on July 5.
Mr. Hansen maintained the mailer was a standard, postbudget campaign that wasn't aimed at the petition process, but Elections BC didn't agree. "The timing and format of the mailer are not consistent with previous mailers regarding past budgets," Ms. Johnson wrote in a letter to the government.
It is unusual for a government minister to criticize a non-partisan office of the legislature, and Mr. Hansen stopped just short of alleging bias.
"Surely Elections BC must know there are illegal lawn signs, and postcards and factually incorrect information on the anti-HST websites. It must know the NDP is flagrantly violating the law with signs in the front window of their taxpayer-funded constituency offices," he said.
"That's why I have written today to Elections BC to insist they uphold the same standard for everyone and immediately enforce the law on the NDP and [petition sponsor]Bill Vander Zalm."
The government has not released the contents of the planned mailer, but Ms. Johnson found it was "very promotional" and dominated by just one issue, the HST. "It is imperative that government advertising does not indirectly promote or oppose an initiative petition," she wrote.
However, she invited the government to amend the content so that it could proceed, an option the government rejected.
Instead, Mr. Hansen summoned reporters to his office on Thursday to complain that he has been thwarted in his duty to correct misleading information that he says is being spread by the initiative proponents and by the New Democratic Party opposition.
He also asked Elections BC to investigate whether those alleged inaccuracies would make the whole petition process invalid.
NDP House Leader Mike Farnworth said his caucus has had all of its material vetted and approved by Elections BC.
Mr. Hansen released a photograph showing anti-HST signs in the window of Mr. Farnworth's constituency office, but the MLA said the picture is out of date. The signs were taken down before Christmas, long before the petition began.
"I think Elections BC is doing its job," Mr. Farnworth said. "This is just a government that is lashing out, angry that people aren't buying their message."
Mr. Vander Zalm, a former B.C. premier, said the government's reaction demonstrates it is now worried that the petition will succeed.
"Elections BC is being fair, the rules are applied to government as much as anyone else. The [Premier Gordon]Campbell people have never been challenged and now they are having to live by the rules like everyone else. Isn't it wonderful?"
The creation of the HST has already been enshrined in federal law, but Thursday marked the passage of the province's enabling legislation, which will eliminate the provincial sales tax on July 1. The government cut off debate in the legislature, saying it is time to move on to other matters.