VICTORIA (NEWS1130) - The BC government has released a draft version of the question to be asked in a
referendum on the HST next September.
The question drafted by chief electoral officer Craig James asks: "Are you in favour of extinguishing the HST and reinstating the Provincial Sales Tax in conjunction with the GST? Yes or No."
The final wording of the question will be decided later. James says he's open to suggestions from MLAs, but would need to be persuaded.
Chris Delaney with
Fight HST says it looks fine on the surface, but says it's incomplete since the anti-tax petition people signed also had a provision for a refund, which isn't in the question. "So it begs the question, is this being conducted under the Initiative Act or is it going to be done under some other form of legislation. So we just need to kind of know what that is, so people can make a decision if this question will be acceptable."
People out and about in Kitsilano we spoke with thought the draft HST referendum question was fair, but they also had to put their two cents in about the tax itself. "It makes sense, but I just feel like the HST, the whole thing with it. Nobody understands what it really is for, unless they do look into it. I think we should get rid of it for now."
More than 500,000 British Columbians signed an anti-HST petition earlier this year, which led to the scheduling of the referendum.