News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

Cariboo Chilcotin - “On a slow day canvassers gather 50 signatures while on a most days 100 signatures are collected”, says Eric Freeston, regional organizer in Cariboo Chilcotin for the Initiative to End the Harmonized Sales Tax. “Now, just seven weeks into a 90 day campaign, we have 7500 names - approximately 2000 more signatures than the number of people who voted for Donna Barnett in the 2009 Provincial Election.”

“This response shows that citizens are angry with both the tax and the way it was introduced – immediately after the Liberal election win in May. And anger towards the Liberal Government and the Harmonized Sales Tax continues to grow. We expect to exceed 8000 signatures in the next five days. As long as people want to sign the petition, we will be out on the streets taking their names.”

Following the July 6 deadline for the HST initiative, Elections BC will validate petition signatures.  Once the initiative is declared successful it will be sent to an all-party committee of the BC Legislature.  This committee will have two options: holding a province-wide referendum or turning the petition into a bill to present to the legislature. If the bill is presented in the legislature but voted down by the Liberal-majority government, the Citizen Initiative has two further options: a recall petition or a legal challenge.

A recall petition can be conducted no earlier than November 2010. This initiative requires 40% of registered voters of a particular constituency to sign a petition to recall their MLA. If the recall petition is successful, the MLA for that constituency would be recalled and Elections BC would hold a by-election.

Legal advisors believe the HST may contravene the Constitution Act 1867 that gives exclusive authority for direct taxation for provincial revenue to the provincial legislatures only.  The HST may also contravene the Excise Tax Act that forbids the federal government from implementing an “unequal” tax within the provinces. Any legal challenges to the HST would be accompanied by an application for an injunction to stop the tax until the court can determine its legality.

Freeston concluded, “During the election Liberal MLA Donna Barnett promised to represent her constituents in Cariboo Chilcotin. Now her constituents are clearly telling her they don’t want the HST. Is she listening?”

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