Vote "Yes" to end HST --Fight For Direct Democracy!
Edited by Joseph Lin, HST Petition Canvasser
E-mail: greenclub@gmail.com ; Tel: 604-327-8693

The bigger the number, the bigger the statement!
Fight HST Website: fighthst.com
More Signatures for Democracy!
Only money can talk in our community centre
Public spaces and free expression
What will happen after our HST petition is submitted?

HST Chinese Website: www.greenclub.bc.ca for your friends


Fight HST Petition breaks 700,000 signatures in final week
Jun 29, 2010 Press Release

Fight HST Petition breaks 700,000 signatures in final week
44% of total voters in last election sign up to repeal the HST

Port Coquitlam- Fight HST Lead Organizer, Chris Delaney, reported today that the Initiative to repeal the Harmonized Sales Tax broke the 700,000 signature mark this past weekend. He says that represents a total of 44% of all voters in the last election who have signed the petition.

"We are extremely happy as we prepare to deliver the petitions to Elections BC this Wednesday. The Initiative was an extraordinary success. We have an enormous number of signatures, and are even able to deliver it a week early," said Delaney.

"Congratulations go to all of our regional organizers, captains and canvassers who worked so hard, and of course to British Columbians, who signed up in droves to send a loud and clear message to their government: Repeal the HST now!"

Delaney says there has never seen anything like the citizen Initiative petition to repeal the HST in BC or Canadian history. "Full credit goes to former BC premier Bill Vander Zalm, who introduced the Referendum, Recall and Initiative Acts while he was in office," Delaney explained.

Delaney says British Columbians owe a debt of gratitude to the former premier for having the courage and vision to provide them with a set of truly democratic tools to hold governments accountable between elections.

He says back in 1992, Vander Zalm's BC Referendum legislation forced the federal government to conduct a nationwide referendum in an attempt to ratify the Charlottetown Accord constitutional amendment. "Prime Minister Mulroney decided the only way to stop BC from vetoing his Accord was to counteract the ability of British Columbians to vote directly on the proposed amendment by holding a national referendum," said Delaney.

"The Charlottetown Accord was defeated, due largely to Bill's unique and progressive Referendum legislation, which allowed the people to stop what many believed would result in an unbalanced and unworkable federation." "Now, he has done it again with the Initiative Act by completing the first successful petition. The only thing left to be tested successfully is Recall. And we’ll get that chance in November."

Delaney says the BC Government reaction to the petition has been so incompetent and dictatorial, that British Columbians have essentially abandoned the Liberals as a political force. "The people are getting ready for Recalls to begin in the fall. It is clear to everyone that the Liberals are prepared to commit political suicide rather than listen to them, so people are going to oblige them."
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More Signatures for Democracy!
Events and locations suggested for HST Petition:
Many of you may know the following suggested locations already:
on weekdays: Senior homes; Chinese traditional markets, Chinese restaurants
Invitations from community group meetings, apartment gatherings
Skytrain stations, busy bus stations
on weekends: every entrance of shopping centres
many community events at links .

Media Relations: Joseph Lin has received interviews on the HST Petition issue from CBC TV, Global TV, Fairchild TV, CBC Radio, Fairchild Radio, 24 hours Vancouver, Georgia Straight, Singtao News, MingPao,, Word Journal, Dawa News and Epoch Times.
www.straight.com/article-324728/vancouver/vancouver-park-board-stifles-hst-initiative
www.theprovince.com/news/Park+board+eyes+giving+petitioners+free+access/3076627/story.html#ixzz0p8umyURZ 

Joseph Lin is a community leader and commentator on environmental and social issues in the Chinese community. He is the founding President of Green Club on environmental education. He is an interpreter, organizer, writer, and publisher on environment, heritage and eco-tourism. He is also a co-host of a weekly Chinese TV programs. He has received the Federal Environment Volunteer Award, The Land Conservancy BC Conservation Award, Vancouver Natural History Society Award for Nature Education & Conservation, Vancouver Parks Board Volunteer Award, and Richmond Mayor's Environment Achievement Award.

Too late for our constitutional right
Joseph Lin, June 1, 2010

I participate in this HST Petition for the democracy. We saw many many people eager to participate in this historic process, but we have only short time left for people to sign HST. Many volunteers like me are very busy in their daily life. 
 
Public servants have to consider and response to citizens' need as soon as possible. But, why does it take three weeks long for our Vancouver Parks Board to approve this "constitutional right"? Till Vancouver Parks Board "approve" this special motion, we may not need community centres any more.

Only money can talk in our community centre !?
Joseph Lin 20100526

I demand to sit at the lobby of our community centre for free to collect our citizens' signatures for HST Petition!

It is unacceptable that I, as a registered canvasser of BC Elections, need to pay $100 to help citizens sign the HST Petition. The HST Petition has received Elections BC approval for a legally binding Citizen Initiative Petition.

I didn't received any official letter replying my request in the previous letter on May 17. Yesterday afternoon, I asked the receptionist of Riley Park Community Centre if I can collect HST signature freely at the lobby. She said I cannot sit at the lobby to collect signatures and that I need to pay $100 to rent a room.

Last night, I still witnessed our dedicated HST canvassers standing outside the Riley Park Community Centre and suffer the cold and rainy weather. They tried very hard to help our citizens, because Langara District has one of the two lowest numbers of the HST Petition.

In the past four weeks, I have witnessed many volunteers sacrifice lunch hours and weekends and work very hard outside of community centres, shopping centres, crossroads, and door to door in the community.

Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, and Coquitlam have all given registered canvassers a chance to gather signatures inside these public buildings without paying a fee. Vancouver falls short of being a truly democratic city. 

Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of expression. In 2001, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that TransLink infringed on Ron Churchill's freedom of expression by prohibiting him from distributing political pamphlets on SkyTrain property. In 2009, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that TransLink and B.C. Transit infringed on the Canadian Federation of Students and the B.C. Teachers' Federation's freedom of expression by refusing to allow their political ads.

If we hold prejudice and intentionally set obstacles for a certain social issues, we will create more anxiety and anger. The only sensible way to governance is to hear the true voice of the public. I trust the majority of our public servants have the wisdom and sincerity to help taxpayers to freely and easily express their view and voice on this public issue.

Province: www.theprovince.com/news/Park+board+eyes+giving+petitioners+free+access/3076627/story.html#ixzz0p8umyURZ

Taxpayers have the right to use our community centres for free to express our voice!
--True voice for our public servants!
Joseph Lin

HST is an important public social issue. I do not agree with some public servants' view that it is politically neutral to refuse the HST Petition in our community centres. The HST Petition is a citizen initiative to fight back what some considers unfair and unjust public policy.. The HST Petition has received Elections BC approval for a legally binding Citizen Initiative Petition.  While it is illegal for a canvasser to make a false or misleading statement about this petition to influence citizens' decision, encouraging citizens to participate in this petition is a democratically sound and neutral position.

As a Canadian, I believe most of our public servants want to hear the true voice of the public. They always encourage citizens' initiative to voice and express their views and actively solicit public opinion.  Unfortunately, some of our public servants are full of prejudice and discrimination, only interested in hearing what they want to hear.  Since some Vancouver Parks Board commissioners refused to let the HST Petition take place in the community centres, we must assume they support the BC Liberal Party's HST.  I trust the majority of our public servants have the wisdom and sincerity to help taxpayers to freely and easily express their view and voice on this public issue.

Government should be of the people, by the people and for the people. Community centres are owned by citizens, the taxpayers, and provide services to citizens. The Vancouver Parks Board and bureaucrats, as public servants, should not and cannot refuse citizens' requests to make use of the community centres in their attempt to voice and express their view points and concern.! This is not only discrimination, but is also against the public's will.

Burnaby citizens can sign HST petition at their city hall. By contrast, Vancouver citizens cannot sign HST petition in their own community centres, even though HST is an important social issue of public concern. Vancouver falls short of being a truly democratic city.  Democracy strives for a harmonious and equal society. Our citizens have the right to use public community centres to freely express their will or voice.  The City of Vancouver should take the lead to demonstrate its respect for democracy to the rest of BC.



Our community needs civic participation. Volunteers are our precious assets. In the past 3 weeks, I have participated in Fight HST Initiative Petition as a canvasser and have witnessed many volunteers sacrificing lunch hours and weekend and working very hard outside of community centres, shopping centres, crossroads and door to door in the community. There are several reasons why we need to raise this issue of being denied access to community centres in Vancouver to the awareness of the public.

1. Indoor signing stations are comfortable for our citizens and dedicated volunteers, regardless of if it is a hot sunny or a cold rainy day .
2. Community people can easily find the petition booth inside the community centre, because a community centre has more than one entrance.
3. Community people can make use of tables, chairs and washroom facilities in a community centre.
4. Community people can conveniently express their voices by signing their petition when they attend programs in the community centre.
5. An indoor station is more formal and it conveys a message that this social issue is important.
6. Community centres are centrally located, easily accessible and familiar to community people.
7. Most of all, we as taxpayer citizens have the right to use our community centre to express our voice!

I believe our constitution promotes social justice. Parks Board should provide free space and facilities in our community centres for our community people.  Fight HST has limited resources, as it is a non-profit organization by a group of community volunteers who are dedicated to pursuing social justice by reducing the tax burdens to help the majority of taxpayers.

We want to hear the true voice of the public. Petition and referendum are ways to learn the true voice of the citizens and to resolve public issues by law. We would like to see a harmonious society actively participated by people in all communities. If we hold prejudice and intentionally set obstacles for a certain social issues, we will create more anxiety and anger. The only sensible way to governance is to hear the true voice of the public.

Petition is the first step to referendum. BC Election gave permission to petition to Fight HST, because it is a major public issue. If we want to know the true voice of our citizen, our public servants should try their best to help this HST Petition. When we have an election, people have easy access to a voting booth to express their will. That is the democracy.  In this light, Petition against HST is no different from election.  We all want to know the true voice from our taxpayers and majority of us "citizens".

I would like to express my gratitude to our media in what it has been doing regarding the Fight Against HST petition. Many citizens learned about the Fight Against HST issue and find signing locations from the media.  Media, as a public platform, enable us to hear the true voice of the public and help us set the course for social justice,  In my view, media should publicize names of individuals involved in making the public places such as shopping malls, Translink stations and community centres inaccessible to petition signing canvassers.

Many people cannot find petition signing places in their community. In order to help new Canadians understanding HST petition, Joseph Lin created a HST Petition Chinese Website with daily updates of signing locations and relevant news. The website provides how to be a volunteer, a canvasser, Chinese canvasser recruitment, notice to sign HST petition, HST petition form in Chinese, HST introduction, and links to BC Election and Fight HST. HST Petition Chinese Website at http://www.greenclub.bc.ca, contact telephone in Mandarin and English: 604-327-8693.
 
Joseph Lin,
Canvasser of Langara
Tel: 604-327-8693, josephlin@shaw.ca 
HST Petition Chinese Website: www.greenclub.bc.ca



Public spaces and free expression
Vander Zalm will speak to Vancouver park board if asked to do so by local HST campaign
By Charlie Smith, Georgia Straight

The former premier behind the anti-HST initiative says the Vancouver park board is "standing there by itself somewhat" by not allowing canvassers to bring their petitions into the lobbies of Vancouver community centres.

In a phone interview with the Georgia Straight, Bill Vander Zalm described the initiative against the harmonized sales tax as a "wonderful practice in democracy".

Canvassers have been permitted into community centres in Burnaby, Coquitlam, Richmond, and Surrey to collect signatures. The Straight has reported canvasser Joseph Lin's claim that he was barred from doing the same thing in the Riley Park Community Centre in Vancouver.

"It's part of the democratic process, no different from a referendum that they may or may not agree with, but would still allow to have happen in their community centres or public facilities," Vander Zalm said.

Park board chair Aaron Jasper told the Straight on May 17 that at its next meeting (June 7), the board will discuss the ban on HST petitions in community-centre lobbies.

The Straight asked Vander Zalm if he would attend the meeting to offer input to the commissioners. He replied that he would be interested in first hearing the wishes of Vancouver residents involved in the initiative.

"If they would in fact want me to do that, I would certainly oblige," Vander Zalm said. "But it's up to the Vancouver people whether they should or would want to do it or whether they would have somebody like myself on the outside doing it."
http://www.straight.com/article-325429/vancouver/vander-zalm-will-speak-vancouver-park-board-if-asked-do-so-loca l-hst-campaign 

Vancouver park board stifles HST initiative by barring canvassers from community centres
By Charlie Smith, Georgia Straight

Four of the five biggest cities in Metro Vancouver have allowed anti-HST campaigners to collect signatures on petitions in community centres. However, the Vancouver park board has so far refused to permit opponents of the harmonized sales tax to canvass within any of its 24 community centres.

"We had inquiries from organizers to get involved in that," Vision Vancouver park board chair Aaron Jasper told the Georgia Straight. "We do have policies, and so we have asked staff to come back to us and advise us of what our options would be."

Jasper made the comment after the May 17 board meeting, at which acting general manager Peter Kuran told commissioners that it hasn't been the "practice" to allow people to collect signatures on petitions in community-centre lobbies. Kuran described a lobby as a "neutral area where people come and go" without being "bombarded by signs". He also mentioned that the board is prepared to rent space to anti-HST canvassers in community-centre rooms away from the lobbies.

Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, and Coquitlam have all given registered canvassers a chance to gather signatures inside these public buildings without paying a fee. After the park board meeting, Green commissioner Stuart Mackinnon told the Straight that he didn't see any need to change the policy to accommodate the anti-HST initiative. "If they wish to rent a room like any other group, we're more than willing to rent it to them," Mackinnon said.

NPA commissioner Ian Robertson concurred. "Certainly, there is going to be the impact of the HST on park-board services," he told the Straight, "but I think there are a lot of residents out there that, despite their feelings either way on the issue, like to see their park-board facilities be a haven where they can come and relax without having to get engaged in issues of this nature."

COPE commissioner Loretta Woodcock pointed out that political parties have been prevented from campaigning in park-board facilities. "From this basis, then historically, we haven't engaged in any kind of political campaign," she told the Straight. "HST is a political issue."

The park-board policy troubles Ron Churchill, who filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court after TransLink police arrested him for distributing political pamphlets at the Edmonds SkyTrain station during the 2000 federal election campaign. Churchill, a retired businessperson and former Canadian Alliance campaign manager, called the park board's policy "antidemocratic". He questioned whether it would survive a court challenge.

"They held me and they were recommending charges," he recalled. "I took it to the Supreme Court and won as a pro se litigant [representing himself]."

In Churchill's case, Justice A.F. Wilson ruled that TransLink's ban on electioneering, which was part of its safety rules, was unconstitutional. In 2001, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association granted Churchill the Reg Robson award after his successful court fight.

Joseph Lin, an anti-HST canvasser , told the Straight by phone that he has been barred from entering the Riley Park Community Centre to collect names on petitions, so he has been waiting outside the building. Meanwhile, Chris Delaney, a spokesperson for Fight HST, told the Straight by phone that his group has already met the legal threshold of collecting the signatures of 10 percent of registered voters in 72 of B.C.'s 85 constituencies. He acknowledged that the group has had less success in Vancouver than in other areas of B.C. "Point Grey is probably our weakest riding provincewide," he said. "In my honest assessment, it's lack of organization on our part."

When asked about the importance of being in Vancouver community centres, Delaney replied, "At this late stage, I don't think they're critical." But he quickly added that community centres are central locations that help promote awareness of the anti-HST initiative.

More at http://www.straight.com/article-324728/vancouver/vancouver-park-board-stifles-hst-initiative 

Public spaces and free expression
Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of expression.

In 1991, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that officials at Dorval Airport (now called Montreal-Trudeau Airport) infringed on Francois Lepine and Christiane Deland's freedom of expression by prohibiting them from distributing pamphlets.

In 2001, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that TransLink infringed on Ron Churchill's freedom of expression by prohibiting him from distributing political pamphlets on SkyTrain property.

In 2009, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that TransLink and B.C. Transit infringed on the Canadian Federation of Students and the B.C. Teachers' Federation's freedom of expression by refusing to allow their political ads.

Sources: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Supreme Court of Canada, B.C. Supreme Court

What do you think about the park board restricting anti-HST petitions in community centres?

Nancy Chiavario
Past president, Mount Pleasant Community Centre Association, and former NPA park commissioner
"Frankly, it doesn't surprise me that [the] park board won't stand up for anything. But from a community-centre-association perspective, it is something that some of us have talked about. We just may put petitions in."
 
Ron Churchill
Retired Burnaby businessperson
"I think most of the anger for the petition is surrounding the fact that the Liberal government so obviously lied to everyone. Regardless of what side anybody is on, people who want to get involved politically on a legitimate referendum issue should be allowed to use public property. Where else do you find the people?"
 
Marla Renn
Cochair, www.StopWar.ca 
"It's a blocking of community members to be able to freely express themselves, especially around an issue where people are very organized and very vocal.…I'm really surprised to hear that people are running into difficulty at community centres--places that are designed to be public arenas for public forums as well as other public events."

Joseph Lin
Canvasser against the HST
"The HST is an important public social issue. The second thing is the petition is the first step to a referendum. …Elections [B.C.] thinks this issue should be solved by this kind of legal process, like an election. When we have an election, our government should try very hard to provide a convenient place for all citizens to express their views."
 
Aaron Jasper
Vision Vancouver park board chair
"I'm not speaking on behalf of the board, but as a single commissioner I'm not as concerned about being a bit flexible with respect to this issue—one, because this is a registered campaign with Elections B.C., and that all those canvassers are registered canvassers. This isn't a willy-nilly thing, so it's all aboveboard."

Should HST petition canvassers be allowed in Vancouver community centres?
More at http://www.straight.com/article-324728/vancouver/vancouver-park-board-stifles-hst-initiative 
Express your view and vote on the internet...

What will happen after our HST petition is submitted?

Once our petition is submitted to Elections BC, they will have 42 days to check it and validate it. Once that is successfully completed, they will submit it to a Standing Committee of the Legislature, who must meet within 30 days to deliberate on it, and who have two options:

1. They can send it to the legislature for a vote.
2. They can refer it back to Elections BC to conduct a non-binding ‘Initiative Vote’ in September 2011.
We have said repeatedly that we will only accept option 1.

There is no need to delay, play political games or to spend $20,000,000 of taxpayers’ money to conduct a non-binding public opinion poll to determine what our petition has already proven – that British Columbians do not want the tax!

It is time now for government to act. They must vote on the legislation in our petition, and repeal the HST in the fall session of the legislature.

If they delay the fall session of the legislature, substantially change or table the bill, refer it to an Initiative Vote, or vote against the petition, we will begin Recalls in November, the first date at which we can legally begin.

Our objective has always been to get rid of the HST, not to fight another election. We believe a Recall of the premier and/or the finance minister may be the most effective way to achieve that. Others have said targeting MLA’s who are the most vulnerable would be better.

Many citizens will be outraged if they see their MLA’s vote to defeat the people’s petition. Only time will tell what happens next, and what is the best route to go.

The government has drawn a line in the sand with the people, and the people have drawn a line in the sand with their government. There can only be one winner in that contest if democracy is to survive in BC. We will be that winner.

Thank you for your hard work and commitment.

Chris Delaney, Lead Organizer, Fight HST