Anti-HST organizers in north-central B.C. are taking their fight on the road to smaller communities in the region.
HST critics who helped fight a successful petition that resulted in the referendum vote this month have organized evening events in Mackenzie Tuesday, Vanderhoof on Wednesday, and Fraser Lake on Thursday. Next week Tuesday, June 21, an event is scheduled for McBride.
The mail-in ballots have begun arriving on people's doorsteps in Prince George, who have until July 22 to have their ballots into Elections B.C.
Eric Allen and Peter Ewart, both of Prince George, will host the anti-HST events, which are meant to offer a perspective that shows the full cost of the HST, said Allen.
"This is a tax grab by the the Liberal government because they got themselves into a bind, perhaps over the Olympics. It's also a tax break to businesses and corporations," said Allen, who recently joined the B.C. First Party.
Allen was one of the organizers of the successful petition last year that gathered thousands of signatures in B.C.'s three north-central ridings. More than 700,000 signatures were gathered provincewide. Ewart, a community activist, has been involved in several campaigns, including an effort to increase local control of forests.
The townhalls are as follows:
- Tuesday: Mackenzie, 7 p.m., Steelworkers union hall.
- Wednesday: Vanderhoof, 7 p.m., Evelyn Dixon Elementary School.
- Thursday: Fraser Lake, 7 p.m., Seminar room, Arena Complex.
- Tuesday, June 21: McBride, 7 p.m., Legion hall.
