The fight over B.C.'s HST will shift from the political arena to the courtroom on Monday when supporters and opponents of the tax make their cases in B.C. Supreme Court. Lawyers representing former premier Bill Vander Zalm and the organizers of the Fight HST petition are expected to face off against a legal team representing a business group that supports the new tax. The business group made up of the Council of Forest Industries, the Mining Association of B.C., the Coast Forest Products Association and the B.C. Chamber of Commerce wants the petition tossed out, saying the HST is a federal tax and not subject to provincial laws. But Vander Zalm's lawy
er has filed a counterclaim that the HST be declared unconstitutional. If the court rules the petition is constitutionally valid, the legislative committee would have to decide whether to send a bill to the legislature withdrawing the HST or to put the issue to a province-wide referendum.
Appeals could last years
Chief Justice Robert Bauman has scheduled a week to hear arguments, but the legal battle could drag on for years, if the losing side decides to appeal any decision. Lawyers for the province and the federal government are also expected to sit in on the hearings. Vander Zalm's is attempting to roll back the new 12 per cent tax, which came into effect on July 1, with a petition under the province's initiative legislation. Elections B.C. verified the 700,000 signature petition was valid last week. However the province's chief electoral officer decided not send it to the legislature while the legal challenge was before the court. Vander Zalm was then thwarted again when he attempted to deliver the petition in person last week, forcing the Liberals to refuse him. The former premier say members of his fight HST group are planning to recall Liberal MLA's if they don't repeal the tax. Former energy minister Blair Lekstrom left the governing Liberal Party in June, because he said he could no longer support the unpopular tax.
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