They’ve had their chat with the MLA Marc Dalton, but Wilf McIntyre and Renee Tyson still don’t agree with the local Liberal on taxes and petitions.
Tyson wanted to meet with the MLA a few weeks ago and tell him she opposed his plans to look at the names of those who signed the recall petition against him, but a scheduling mix-up prevented that.
But on Friday, the two spent an hour with the MLA in his constituency office on Dewdney Trunk Road.
“I did go and I did see him. What I would like truly is if he would apologize to the people [who signed the petition.] Whether he will or not … we’ll see,” said Tyson.
Dalton, MLA for Maple Ridge-Mission, said later that he wouldn’t look at the petition sheets.
Earlier this year, about 2,500 people in the riding signed the petition organized by the Done With Dalton campaign because of the Liberal MLA’s support of the HST.
Organizers stopped collecting names after Premier Christy Clark announced a mail-in referendum on the Harmonized Sales Tax in June and July. Organizers would have had to collect more than 14,000 names in order to force Dalton to resign and call a byelection.
McIntyre also asked Dalton to apologize to petition signers for considering looking at the names, but said Dalton repeated the government position that the HST would be good for the province. “He just defended the government’s position. So we went around in circles.”
He also challenged Dalton’s claim that a significant number of people were confused when they were signing the recall petition, thinking it was an anti-HST petition.
McIntyre said Dalton couldn’t give any numbers.
“We can get him in the next election. He’ll have to answer to the people in two years,” McIntyre said.
McIntyre, who helped in the recall petition, said he and other supporters will work with the Fight HST campaign against the HST in the leadup to the mail in referendum on the tax next month.
“Hopefully we can win the HST vote.”
