No-HST goes over top in Kamloops-North

Murray Mitchell/The Daily News

Judi Dupont talks with canvasser Doug Walters as she puts her signature on a petition against the HST on Victoria Street Friday afternoon.

In less than three weeks, canvassers have signed enough people in Kamloops-North Thompson to send a message to the B.C. Liberal government about the incoming HST.

“In Kamloops-North Thompson we have 4,700 signatures – that’s just over 11 per cent,” said Chad Moats, who has devoted himself full time to administering no-HST campaigns in the two city and surrounding ridings.

The no-HST petition campaign headed by former premier Bill Vander Zalm aims to get signatures of 10 per cent of voters in each of the province’s 85 ridings. That would validate the petition under provincial law and force a response by the province.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” said Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Terry Lake, whose riding has been the focus of most of the anti-HST attention.

“When you ask people to sign a petition against a tax a majority of people will sign it.”

Lake acknowledges assurances from government that jobs and investment will result from the harmonized 12 per cent tax, slated to take effect July 1, have failed to sway voters.

“It speaks to the relatively poor job we’ve done about getting the message out about what the HST really means.”

Finance Minister Colin Hansen is scheduled to speak in Kamloops next Friday at a Chamber of Commerce meeting as part of a government counter-campaign.

Lake said pamphlets will also be mailed out to each household in B.C. explaining its benefits. But he said government, struggling under a $1.7-billion deficit, could not afford to mount a major advertising campaign.

Moats said signatures will continue to be gathered in Kamloops-North Thompson. Organizers are shooting for 15 per cent in each riding to ensure there is room for error.

While the petition has taken off in Kamloops-North Thompson, it’s been slower in Kamloops-South Thompson – a staunch Liberal riding.

So far organizers have signed 1,100 voters, about three per cent.

“The pace is good,” Moats said, adding, “It will take us a little longer.”

Canvassers will be at the Farmers’ Market downtown today, where they hope to sign hundreds more voters.

Moats is also organizing in some neighbouring ridings, including Shuswap and Fraser-Nicola. He said the 10 per cent threshold has already been reached in the Shuswap while in Fraser-Nicola it’s nearing seven per cent.

If the measure succeeds by the July 5 deadline, and is certified by Elections B.C., Lake will have an intimate part of the decision-making on the next steps. He chairs the legislative initiatives committee, which will deal with the petition if it is certified.

“There is a process there,” Lake said. “I don’t want to speculate about outcomes.”

cfortems@kamloopsnews.ca

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