Former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm said Friday he was 'delighted' by a court ruling that his anti-HST petition can proceed to the legislative committee. Former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm said Friday he was 'delighted' by a court ruling that his anti-HST petition can proceed to the legislative committee.

Anti-HST campaigner Bill Vander Zalm has sent a letter to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell urging him to send legislation to repeal the new tax directly to a free vote in the legislature this fall.

Vander Zalm, who is a former premier of B.C., wants Campbell to tell the all-party group that the Liberal government will handle the issue during a fall legislative session, rather than put it to a non-binding, province-wide vote that could cost as much as $50 million.

Initiative petition summary:

  • The purpose of the initiative draft bill is to declare that the agreement between the federal government and the British Columbia government to establish a harmonized sales tax (HST) is not in effect.
  • The draft bill would reinstate the seven per cent provincial sales tax (PST) with the same exemptions as were in effect as of June 30, 2010, and establish the provincial sales tax as the only sales tax in British Columbia for the purposes of raising provincial revenue.
  • The draft bill proposes that it be effective retroactively to June 30, 2010.
  • The bill also proposes that the provincial share of HST revenues received between June 30, 2010 and the date of Royal Assent of the bill that exceeds what would be collected under the PST rules as of June 30, 2010 would be reimbursed to British Columbians on a per capita basis.

(Source: Elections BC)

According to Vander Zalm, 50 per cent of all registered voters in B.C. must pass an initiative vote — twice the number he says who voted for the Liberals in the last election — making the vote both undemocratic and a "colossal waste of money."

He warns the premier he'll launch recall campaigns against Liberal MLAs if the initiative process is delayed further.

The move follows a court ruling on Friday that ended an attempt by a coalition of business groups to have the 700,000-signature petition ruled invalid.

MLA Terry Lake, who is chairman of the Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives said he expects to receive the petition from the province's electoral chief on Monday, and the committee will likely hold its inaugural meeting in the first week of September.

Under the rules of B.C.'s initiative legislation, the legislative committee will have 90 days to decide whether to send the petition's draft legislation to house for a vote or hold a non-binding referrendum on it sometime next year.