VICTORIA: The BC division of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today celebrated the news that the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) has indefinitely suspended its court action that sought to have the province's recall law declared unconstitutional. (The CTF possessed intervenor status in the case.)

"Recall is an important tool of accountability, endorsed by 80% of BC voters in a 1991 referendum," said CTF-BC director Mark Milke. "The BCCLA case is anti-democratic, frivolous, philosophically incoherent and legally doomed to failure."

Milke noted that recall legislation has already been effective in improving political accountability in British Columbia. "Had voters not possessed the threat of recall, Paul Reitsma would still be sitting in the Legislature and collecting a taxpayer-funded salary," argued Milke. "Recall works, and it dilutes concentrated political power in which governments can function as four-year dictatorships instead of more responsive and accountable representatives."

Milke thanked the many supporters of both the CTF and BCCLA who had both called and contributed to the Federation's intervenor status. "The thought of Glen Clark's government defending the recall law bordered on black humour, whereas the Canadian Taxpayers Federation would have put forward a sincere defense of the law."

"Supporters of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and the vast majority of the public support BC's recall law," Milke added. "If necessary, the Federation will again go to court to protect an important tool of accountability."