A big fat raspberry to Elections BC for its ham-fisted handling of the will of the people, as expressed in the stunningly successful recall petition against the hated HST.
The petition may have been signed by more than 700,000 voters in the province, but acting chief electoral officer Craig James thought that only one of them, a 76-year-old gardening chap named William Vander Zalm, deserved to know that the recall campaign had passed muster.
No public announcement, no totals, no breakdown of the signatures by riding, not a word on the Elections BC website. Not a sausage. Just a single paragraph in a terse, private letter from Mr. James to the Zalm, informing him that the petition "has been found to comply with the provisions of Section 7 of the Act." Ridiculous.
Mr. James made matters worse with his astonishing decision to then do nothing at all about the historic petition. He has refused to forward it to a special legislative committee for action, as required by law, until the courts have made "a final determination" on a business-backed challenge to the petition.
With all due respect, Mr. James, it's not up to you to halt democracy in its tracks. If business organizations want to stop the petition going forward, let them go to the courts and seek an injunction on their own. Please don't do their work for them.
A very poor show.
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The free trade controversy spawned one of my favourite slogans of all time: "NAFTA, NAFTA, We don't hafta!" It also prompted Leonard Cohen to make a rare foray into choppy, political waters.
During a concert in Vancouver, the Tower of Song observed: "I have only one thing to say about free trade. When I went to New York for the first time, my mother warned me: 'Be careful, my son, Americans are different from you and me.' "
Indeed, they are.
As our Premier stood, mittenless for a change, at a distant microphone Thursday on the floor of the California State Assembly to deliver a "green" message from beautiful British Columbia, the adjoining California Senate was hearing its morning prayer.
"The Book of Genesis reminds us that all of humanity is created from a single person," intoned the pastor. Then there was the Pledge of Allegiance to "one nation under God," followed by a bill to rename a boat ramp and a bunch of rapid-fire, roll-call votes. Since the last state senator by alphabetical order was the absent Leland Yee, this produced numerous queries from the speaker: "Yee. Aye?" and once, presumably by mistake, "Aye. Yee?"
Just another day in sunny California.
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As for Gordo, after his brief speech reminding California legislators that it's not what you say, it's what you do, he repaired to lift weights and swap environmental palaver with his good friend, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Perhaps they also commiserated about the pending Terminator status of their political careers. The Guv's term is due to expire next January, while Mr. Campbell is expected to follow him into the sunset some time before the next election.
One thing we do know for sure: His efficient press secretary, Bridgitte Anderson, will no longer be around to tell reporters: "No more questions."
Ms. Anderson has let it be known that her days in the Premier's rectangular office are at an end. Strangely, she wants to spend more time with her family than with the media.
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I am reliably informed that Finance Minister Colin Hansen enjoyed his recent trip down memory lane at a Georges Vanier high-school reunion in Courtenay, just a few kilometres north of beautiful downtown Bowser.
Only a few former classmates bothered the formerly horn-rimmed student with recollections of that unfortunate water incident in Grade 12 chemistry class. It was the first and only time that Mr. Hansen was branded "all wet" entirely by his own doing.
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The revolving doors of justice are one thing, but try figuring this one out.
On Wednesday, reporters heading to courtroom 513, where the verdict on the horrific gay-bashing of Ritch Dowrie was to be delivered, found a notice on the door: "All matters in court 513 have been moved to court 514."
When we headed over to room 514, we found another note on the door: "All matters in court 514 have been moved to court 513."
Being crackerjack journalists, we trooped once more to court 513, where there was a sign on the door…
No wonder the wheels of justice grind slowly.