Slater challenged to support his constituents in next week's HST meetings
By Contributor
The release of documents that shatter the B.C. Liberal claim that the HST wasn’t on their “radar screen” before the election raises serious questions about what Boundary-Similkameen MLA John Slater and other B.C. Liberals knew about the HST doublecross, and if they knew nothing, why they were kept in the dark. “We can now confirm what we believed all along: the HST was most definitely in the works for months before the election,” said Katrine Conroy, New Democrat MLA for Kootenay West. “John Slater and other B.C. Liberals were either told about the planned doublecross, or they were deceived along with the rest of us.”
“Assuming this lies at the feet of the premier and the finance minister and Mr. Slater really was out of the loop, he should be as angry as the rest of British Columbians, and he should be demanding answers at the caucus table,” said Conroy, noting that Slater is one of six B.C. Liberals on the legislative committee that will meet next week to determine the next steps for the successful anti-HST initiative petition. The B.C. Liberal government has repeatedly said that the HST wasn’t on their “radar screen” before the election, and even went so far as to say in writing before the election that they had no plan to implement the HST. But Wednesday’s release of government documents includes HST implementation briefing notes and studies sent to the finance minister months before the election. “For more than a year now B.C. Liberal MLAs have been defending their HST deception,” said Conroy. “It’s time for John Slater to clear the air and either admit that he knew about it, or admit that his political bosses tricked him too. “If it’s the latter, he had better be ready to go to bat for the people of Boundary-Similkameen.”
