On Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011, I listened to the nine a.m. news on Radio NL. Kamloops-North Thompson MLA (Liberal) Terry Lake was featured on that broadcast as supporting the sentiment that had allegedly been expressed to him by some of our fellow constituents: that the anti-HST-inspired MLA recall campaign opens the door for those who didn't vote in the last election to take away the voice of those that did vote in the last election. He voiced concern over how the recall campaign might be compromising to the legitimacy of the parliamentary process (the ability to recall has been on the books since about 1996).
With this in mind, it's interesting to note that Terry Lake managed just 9,830 votes out of the 37,405 Canadian citizens, aged 18 years and older, living in the Kamloops-North Thompson electoral district (2006 census data). That's 26.3 per cent (more or less) of the enfranchised population.
The recall petition needs the signatures of 40 per cent of this district's registered voters. Funny how Lake didn't mention how close he got to that number.
Samantha Frye
Clearwater, B.C.