The anti-HST forces claim to have reached the halfway point in one riding just one day into its 90-day petition campaign. Canvassers in Fort St. John say they collected 1,820 signatures Tuesday — more than half the 3,387 signatures needed in the North Peace riding as a first step to repealing the Harmonized Sales Tax. “We were very pleased, and expect to reach our targets in both the North and South Peace within a couple of weeks here,” said regional organizer Alvin Stedel.
Led by former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm, canvassers have 90 days to obtain signatures from 10 per cent of registered voters in every B.C. riding asking to do away with the HST. Anti-HST sentiment runs especially high in eastern B.C., where businesses must constantly be wary of consumers crossing the border to shop in Alberta, which has no provincial sales tax. The 12-per-cent HST, a combination of provincial sales tax and federal GST, is scheduled to begin July 1. The B.C. government, which calls the tax the best step possible to ensure a better economy, has plummeted in the polls since announcing it would introduce the HST. During last year’s provincial election, the Liberals said they would not implement the tax.
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