Elections B.C. has approved a recall petition against Premier David Eby.
The recall attempt is being made by Salvatore Vetro, a Vancouver man who last year travelled across the country in support of the anti-vaccine mandate Freedom Convoy.
The petition has little chance of succeeding, however, since Elections B.C. sets a high threshold of signatures required. No MLA has been successfully recalled in B.C. history.
For the petition to succeed, registered canvassers must collect signatures from at least 40 per cent of the voters in the riding, or 16,449 voters. To be eligible to sign the petition, an individual must have been a registered voter in the Vancouver-Point Grey electoral district on Oct. 24, 2020, the date of the last election.
Under the province’s Recall and Initiative Act, any registered voter in B.C. can apply for a recall petition in their electoral district. They must submit an application form, a $50 processing fee, and a brief statement on why they feel the MLA should be recalled. Elections B.C. said it does not have the discretion to evaluate applications on any other criteria.
The petition will be issued on Jan. 17, which is when registered canvassers can begin collecting signatures. The petition must be returned to Elections B.C. by March 20.
Vetro is a retired HandyDART driver and local actor who has dipped into politics before.
In 2010, the 69-year-old founded a fringe political party called the B.C. First Party, which did not gain any traction with the public. In 2020, he ran as an independent in Vancouver-Kensington, garnering 202 votes.
Vetro was chief financial officer for the Bill Vander Zalm-led 2010 anti-HST/GST campaign, which succeeded in a 2011 referendum, with 55 per cent support. Vetro said he hopes to parlay the success he had in that campaign with the recall petition. He said he has a team of volunteers prepared to go door to door.
The pandemic has provided for a resurgence of political activity for Vetro, a COVID-19 vaccine skeptic and “freedom convoy” participant, to oppose government pandemic-related public health measures and restrictions, particularly vaccine passports.
Vetro told Glacier Media his key beef with Eby, whom he called a “dictator,” is the “imploding” health-care system.
“It’s in crisis, let’s face it,” he said. “That’s a fact.”
Bill 36, the Health Professions and Occupations Act, is what specifically prompted Vetro to campaign against Eby.
Vetro said it gives the provincial government too much power over health-care professionals, including control of board appointments for regulatory colleges. The bill also allows the government to require applicants and regulated health service providers to be vaccinated against “specified transmissible illnesses.”
The recall petition commences Jan. 17 and runs until March 17.
There have been 29 recall petitions approved in B.C.’s history and none have succeeded, technically — although in 1998, Parksville-Qualicum MLA Paul Reitsma resigned after petitioners returned 25,430 signatures, more than the 17,020 required.
— With a file from the Vancouver Sun
