OSOYOOS TIMES-April 28, 2010

By Laurena Weninger - Osoyoos Times

According to the organizers of the Osoyoos anti-HST campaign, they’ve already surpassed the number of signatures required for the Boundary-Similkameen electoral district.
“At 5,260 signatures in the Boundary-Similkameen riding and 7,860 in the Penticton riding, we have already collected more signatures than the required 10 per cent in both ridings, and we haven’t finished yet,” said regional organizer Paul McCavour.
According to numbers released by Elections BC, the Boundary-Similkameen riding has 28,738 registered voters.
That makes the 10-per-cent threshold of required signatures 2,874.
The Penticton riding has 41,552 registered voters, making the 10-per-cent threshold 4,156.
Through the provincial Initiative Petition process, if the official volunteers collect signatures from 10 per cent of the registered voters in all 85 ridings in B.C., the provincial government will have to address the bid to repeal the harmonized sales tax (HST) in the Legislature.
The anti-HST movement is being led by former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm, who has until July 5 to meet the threshold.
According to a media release from the provincial group, the total number of signatures collected as of April 25 is 145,549 province-wide.
The group, known as Fight HST, is reporting 20 ridings that have met or exceeded the 10-per-cent threshold with seven reporting signature collection levels of 15 per cent or better.
The Osoyoos group is pleased with local results.
“The response in all the communities so far has been phenomenal. Residents of Osoyoos, Oliver, Keremeos, Cawston, Hedley, Okanagan Falls, Kaleden, Penticton, Naramata, Summerland and Peachland have all come out in droves to sign and volunteers will continue to collect in these communities as we move on to new areas,” said McCavour, who hopes to collect signatures from at least 40 per cent of the riding.
The provincial group said the ridings where high numbers of signatures collected so far are Cariboo-Chilcotin, Cariboo North, Parksville-Qualicum, Peace River North, Shuswap, Skeena, Fort Langley-Aldergrove, Langley, Abbotsford South and Chilliwack-Hope.
Kamloops North, Nanaimo, Columbia River-Revelstoke, Boundary-Similkameen, Delta North, Saanich North and Victoria Beacon Hill have all posted 3,000 signatures or more in each riding.
reporter@osoyoostimes.com