“I can’t believe this bunch. They’re not in touch with the public at all!” -Bill Vander Zalm

Rafe Mair interviews former Socred cabinet colleague and BC Premier Bill Vander Zalm for TheCanadian.org on the campaign to stop the HST. Watch this fascinating 10 min discussion including:

• Why the HST is bad for British Columbians
• The ins and outs of this historic push for a referendum to stop the HST…and what happens if Campbell ignores a successful initiative
• BC conservatism run amok with Campbell Liberals…and why there will be a third party

As of May 12, just five weeks into the initiative’s 3 month window, the campaign of seven directors and 6,700 volunteers has collected over 400,000 signatures from around the province.

In sheer numbers this is already well past the minimum threshold to force a referendum, and just shy of the campaign’s own conservative goal of 450,000. But the signatures must be dispersed around the province’s electoral districts – with a minimum 10% of all registered voters in each of BC’s 85 provincial ridings. So far, the rural campaign has gone exceptionally well, while the key challenge remains urban centres. The deadline for signatures is July 5.

“This is an exercise in democracy that we can’t allow to fail.” – Bill Vander Zalm