B.C. anti-HST petition verification expected

Organizers of the Fight HST campaign in B.C. will learn by Wednesday if they've succeeded in signing up 10 per cent of voters in each provincial riding.

Elections BC has until Aug. 11 to complete the verification process of more than 700,000 petition signatures collected by volunteer canvassers earlier this year.

Fight HST gave the petitions to Elections BC at the end of June. At the time, campaign spokesmen said they had collected the signatures of 15 per cent of voters in each riding — five percent over the requirement in case some signatures were disallowed.

"We feel very positive," lead organizer Chris Delaney said. "All along, Elections BC has told us that if we were to fall below the [10 per cent] threshold that they would let us know and since that hasn't happened, our expectation is that the petition will pass."

An Elections BC spokesperson said the agency would advise the official campaign proponent, former premier Bill Vander Zalm, of the outcome. It would be up to Vander Zalm to make any announcement.

If the petition passes and the Campbell government does not withdraw the HST, organizers will attempt to recall the government, the Anti-HST campaign has said.

The recall process would force a byelection in any riding where 40 per cent of the electorate signs a petition calling for the removal of the sitting MLA.

The B.C. legislature passed the HST bill at the end of March and the legislation came into effect July. It dissolved the seven per cent provincial sales tax, blending it with the five per cent federal GST.

The new 12 per cent tax is applied to many items and services that previously were subject only to the GST.