Pubdate: Tue, 30 Jul 2013
Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Canoe Inc
Contact:  http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837
Author: Bill Tieleman
Cited: Sensible BC: http://www.sensiblebc.ca

VANDER ZALM BOOK A TEMPLATE FOR MARIJUANA LOBBY

Some government will have to improve the initiative process to make 
it more democratic. - ex- B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm

If organizers for Sensible BC's upcoming campaign to decriminalize 
simple marijuana possession want to succeed, they should turn to the 
man who wrote the book on winning a citizen's initiative - literally.

Former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm has just published HST & The 
People for Democracy - a 180-page book outlining how the Fight HST 
campaign launched the only successful citizen's initiative since the 
legislation was passed in 1995.

And as Sensible BC canvassers hit the streets Sept. 9, the lessons 
from Fight HST offer some hope of victory.

The challenge is daunting, I know, because I helped create Fight HST 
with Vander Zalm and others in 2009 to oppose the Harmonized Sales 
Tax imposed by ex-BC Liberal premier Gordon Campbell.

Hard? You need the signatures of 10% of registered voters in each of 
the province's 85 ridings in just 90 days - about 312,000 in total.

That's 3,500 voters every day - and if you miss only one riding, you lose.

But Vander Zalm did it against all odds - and his book outlines how 
to overcome those extraordinary difficulties.

"The reason I wrote the book is because I feared that five years from 
now people might have forgotten the fight for democracy," Vander Zalm 
told me Saturday. "It's also a how-to book for other citizen's initiatives."

Despite his conservative politics, Vander Zalm isn't against Sensible 
BC's goal.

"I'm somewhat sympathetic towards this initiative," he said. 
"Marijuana is now so commonplace that you might as well legalize it 
and collect taxes on it."

The former Social Credit Party leader describes the multiple problems 
organizers face in an initiative, from bureaucratic hassles with 
Elections BC to finding enough canvassers - Fight HST had 6,500 - to 
media skepticism and logistical nightmares.

Vander Zalm believes B.C.'s initiative legislation should be changed 
to make it easier for citizens to force binding referendums - but 
still require substantial support.

Until the initiative rules change, the campaign to decriminalize 
marijuana or any other effort to use direct democracy to change 
policies will remain very tough indeed.

You can purchase the book for $20 - including GST and delivery - 
through here or by mail to Box 1, Delta, BC, V4K 3N5. Mention my 24 
hours column and Vander Zalm will sign it.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom