Fight HST campaign shoots themselves in the foot
I’ll quote the Vancouver Sun:
VICTORIA – Organizers of an anti-HST petition have asked the RCMP to investigate whether a government website breaks advertising rules set out in the Recall and Initiative Act.
The complaint, which alleges the government site (click here) constitutes improper advertising, comes after Elections BC denied a similar complaint.
Chris Delaney, Lead Organizer for Fight HST, said he made a formal complaint to Elections BC about the government site, and was told it does not constitute advertising as set out in law.
“We asked them to explain why a mail out extolling the tax was a violation, but a website with videos doing exactly the same thing was not,” Delaney said in a statement.
“Their replies were unsatisfactory, since they could not explain specifically why the government website did not meet the definition of advertising under the act,” he added.
The difference is really simple. In one instance, you are shoved a piece of paper into your mail slot. You have to spend time to determine it isn’t something you are interested in before you throw it away.
The website is in front of nobody’s faces. It is there only if you want to read it.
Chris Delaney in this comment sounds like he wants to control everything, which is not too different than the current government. The NDP and Green party, if they had the ability, would also try to control everything but fortunately they’ve (smartly) moved into the background since they are the primary beneficiaries of this current spat with the government. Their big dream is that this feud continues until May 2013.
I’m sure by Delaney’s definition I would have to register with Elections BC if I wanted to mention anything about the initiative campaign at all. Here’s a hint to Chris Delaney – when it’s clear that you’re going to win by a huge margin, it doesn’t look good to the public to stomp on your opponents while they’re a heap on the ground.
Both sides openly agree that HST benefits most businesses, and the government website is certainly a blanket endorsement of the HST from all sorts of business owners (most notably missing: the restaurant industry, which gets completely hosed with HST).
Proper messaging would be: “Even the government’s website couldn’t come up with anybody in the restaurant industry to support the HST. Does anybody from the restaurant industry want to sign our petition?”. It just shows Delaney’s desire to start up his BC Conservative party in BC is not on a solid foundation.