Resignation saves face for B.C. HST foes

Anti-HST movement organizers in B.C. say they can't be held responsible for checking everyone who lends their support, including people with potentially extreme political views.

The Fight HST group got an embarrassing lesson over the weekend in the risks associated with grassroots campaigns after a local canvasser resigned for comments defending Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel of Toronto.

Al Romanchuk, listed as a lead canvasser in Kelowna for Fight HST's plans to launch political recall campaigns, stepped down after an interview with the Vancouver Sun.

'We don't ask people's political affiliations. That's why this organization has been so successful.' —B.C. Fight HST organizer Chris Delaney

"My friend Ernst — the bastards crucified him," Romanchuk told the newspaper.

"The guy can't speak his mind in a democracy. What kind of country is this that you can't speak your mind?"

Zundel was extradited from Canada in 2005 and served five years in a German prison. He was convicted on 14 counts of inciting hatred for years of anti-Semitic activities, including contributing to a website devoted to denying the Holocaust, which is a crime in Germany.

Resignation offered

Fight HST organizer Chris Delaney said he spoke with Romanchuk over the weekend, and Romanchuk offered his resignation on his own.

"We contacted him about it, we didn't have to tell him [to step down], he decided to leave," Delaney said in an interview Monday.

"We try and check people out, but you can't know everything about them. We don't ask people's political affiliations. That's why this organization has been so successful. We've got 7,000 volunteers and every now and again you're going to get somebody that's a little bit out there."

Romanchuk was not available for comment.

The anti-HST movement, led by former Social Credit premier Bill Vander Zalm, has been fuelled by anger across the province over the Liberal government's decision to implement the harmonized sales tax, which took effect on July 1.

The province announced the tax change shortly after last spring's provincial election campaign, during which the Liberal Party said it wasn't contemplating a move to the HST.

They gathered the signatures of more than half a million people earlier this year, which prompted the government to call a referendum for September 2011.

Until then, opponents of the HST are planning to use unique provincial legislation to recall MLAs beginning in the new year. The signatures of 40 per cent of registered voters in a single riding can force a byelection.

Romanchuk was listed on the Fight HST website as the lead canvasser for Kelowna-Lake Country.

NDP approves handling

Vander Zalm said he didn't know Romanchuk and said it was a local matter.

Political scientist Doug McArthur of Simon Fraser University said this type of controversy is a risk for any grassroots movement that casts such a wide net for local supporters.

In this case, he said it appears the Fight HST leadership handled it as well as it could by quickly cutting ties with Romanchuk.

"Basically, what they've got to do is, as soon as somebody crosses the line, you've got to cut them loose," McArthur said.

McArthur said Romanchuk's comments likely wouldn't hurt the anti-HST movement, unless controversy surfaces among other supporters.

The NDP, which has sometimes aligned itself with the anti-HST campaign, said Vander Zalm and his group appear to have handled the issue appropriately.

"First off, there's no place for these types of comments in Canadian political discourse, they're just right out there on the fringe," said the party's public safety critic, Mike Farnworth.

"But I think what it also says is, whenever grassroots movements start, particularly on issues that ignite people right across the political spectrum, you get the mainstream range but then you also quite often end up getting people on the fringes."