Premier Gordon Campbell told media August 12 that the success of the anti-HST petition is “great for democracy,” but that he has no intention of eliminating the controversial tax.
Campbell, who was in California to meet the governor and address the state senate, instead said he would follow the “letter of the law” in his fight to keep the tax that he believes is good for the B.C. economy.
HST opponents were fuming earlier this week after Elections BC said the petition had passed the hurdle of collecting the signatures of 10% of registered voters in each of B.C.’s 75 constituencies, but that it would not take further action until all outstanding court challenges are resolved.
Smart Tax Alliance spokesman Jock Finlayson had previously told Business in Vancouver that regardless of whether Elections BC determined if the petition had enough verified signatories that there would still be uncertainty.
The Smart Tax Alliance is a non-partisan coalition of 30 B.C. business and industry groups that formed to support the job-creating benefits of the HST. The alliance represents a wide cross section of industries with more than 800,000 employees across B.C.
“There’s a group of six business organizations, not including the Business Council of British Columbia, that is challenging the legal validity of the anti-HST petition,” Finlayson said. “And, Mr. Vander Zalm launched his own legal case arguing that the government did not implement the HST in a way required by law.”