Federal Conservatives could be victims of BC’s HST fight

A highly publicized court fight over the Harmonized Sales Tax might end up costing Stephen Harper seats in the next election

As anti-HST campaigners continue to fight for the tax to be repealed in British Columbia, voter outrage might be beginning to shift from the provincial government to the federal Conservatives. A BC court ruled last week that the widely hated tax can’t be repealed by the provincial legislature because it is at heart a federal tax. That means anti-HST leader Bill Vander Zalm is now focusing his ire on Stephen Harper, and if his effectiveness at turning public opinion against BC Premier Gordon Campbell is any indication, the Tories will lose votes. Their main competition in the province is the NDP, who oppose the HST.