Monday, August 01, 2011

Now's the time

It seems appropriate that today, BC Day, should be when I finally get to sending off my ballot in the HST referendum.

Besides representing a heckuva lot of paper (four envelopes, if you include the one the whole schmozzle arrived in), this entire exercise seems like such a huge waste. But if the Liberals hadn’t pretended this wasn’t coming down the pipe and raised the issue during the last election - and then people had still elected them, it would have been different.

Only now it’s all feeling so ridiculously after-the-fact, especially the threats the government keeps tossing around, about how BCers will have to pay back the Feds for the billion-plus in bribe money that Ottawa ‘gave’ us to enact the HST.

It all seems a lot like someone’s blustery uncle decided to call a family reunion and ordered a catered banquet of baby beef liver. Only said uncle chose to ignore the fact that a) the family wasn’t even asked if they wanted a reunion, and b) they’re all vegetarians.

So then, when the whole meal has to go back to the kitchen, the uncle blusters over the fact that the family doesn't want to pay for it.

Yet that’s exactly the situation the people of BC are in – and that’s no matter what the results of this vote might be. We’ll at least have to pick up the tab for all those envelopes and postage.

I’d like nothing more than to turn over the bills for all of this to those who ‘ordered the banquet’ on our behalf – Gordon Campbell and his gang. Only, oops, Gord’s already sailed to calmer (and more lucrative-sounding) waters, so he won’t get dinged for this.

Anyway, it’s time to walk up the street to toss these yellow envelopes into the box. If they get picked up tomorrow, I am hoping that they’ll make it to their destination by Friday’s deadline.

No matter which way anyone votes, the fact that this issue has earned itself a referendum indicates that the message these ballots are carrying is pretty important. I’ve got my fingers crossed that postal workers will give these look-at-me yellow envelopes the priority attention they deserve. If you haven't filled yours out yet, now would be a good time to do it.

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