Fate of anti-HST petition to be decided

The head of a B.C. legislative committee says the 10-member all-party committee will meet for the first time on Wednesday to debate the fate of the anti-HST petition — and he expects a quick decision.

Kamloops-North Thompson Liberal MLA Terry Lake says Wednesday's meeting will first determine the mechanics of how the committee operates — since it's never met before.

Once that's done, the six Liberals and four New Democrat MLA's on the committee have two options — either send the draft legislation petition directly to a vote in the legislature, or send it to the public for a referendum-style vote.

Neither of the options appear likely to kill the tax though. If the legislation to kill the unpopular sales tax is sent to the legislature, the governing Liberals are expected to use their majority to kill the bill.

If the bill is sent to the public for a province-wide initiative vote, in order to pass that would require the support of 50 per cent of all registered voters in two-thirds of the province's 85 ridings. Even if it did pass, it would still require a vote in the legislature in order to become law.

The panel officially has 90 days to make its decision on which option it will take.

The 12 per cent HST replaced the seven per cent PST and five per cent GST on July 1 in B.C.