Area residents, who haven’t marked their Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) Referendum ballots but still want to have a say in the outcome, have until 4:30 p.m. on Friday (Aug. 5) to deliver their yellow ballot packets to the Service BC Centre and still have their votes count.
The ballots can be dropped at the centre at 300 Highway 97 in 100 Mile. The centre is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but is closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch.
After the ballot-entry deadline, it will be a waiting game, as we will not know the referendum result until early September, according to acting Chief Electoral Officer Craig James.
Meanwhile, we can only speculate on the fate of the B.C. Liberal government, depending on whether their HST is given the thumbs up or down.
Undoubtedly, the party’s political future will be determined by the referendum’s outcome.
Former premier Gordon Campbell made the initial move to save the HST by resigning as premier and party leader.
However, he may have also made the fatal flaw by promising the referendum will be won by simple majority. That’s an albatross the Christy Clark government has had to carry throughout the referendum process.
We believe this is why the B.C. Liberals have done everything within their power to ensure the HST is here to stay.
They trotted out all of their heavy hitters to talk about the virtues of the HST and the financial devastation it would cause if the provincial government would have to kill the HST.
They poured millions of dollars into its “stickman” advertising campaign, which was supposed to be education-related but subliminally turned into a pro-HST promotion.
Even their “independent” review panel on the HST has come under fire.
When public opinion polls showed there were still strong anti-HST sentiments, Premier Christy Clark played her trump card and promised to lower the HST to 10 per cent in three years, if British Columbians voted “no” on their ballots.
Will it work? We’ll see what September brings but, undoubtedly, the B.C. Liberals have their fingers crossed.
