B.C. HST referendum question in the works

B.C. voters could see a first draft of the referendum question on the harmonized sales tax by mid-November, says provincial Attorney General Mike de Jong.

De Jong said Tuesday the question is currently being drafted by the province's chief electoral officer and a version of it could be made public by Nov. 15.

The question to be put to voters in the Sept. 24, 2011, referendum will be up for debate in the spring session of the legislature but the chief electoral officer will have the final say on the wording, de Jong said.

An all-party legislative committee voted unanimously last month to put the tax to a provincewide vote after more than 500,000 British Columbians signed a petition to repeal the tax.

Premier Gordon Campbell said the government would drop the HST if a majority vote to get rid of the tax.

In a separate development Tuesday, the HST opponents whose petition forced the referendum said they've added B.C. Social Development Minister Kevin Krueger to a list of 19 Liberals being targeted for recall over the tax.

Recall campaigns are scheduled to start in January 2011. Officials with the Fight HST organization said they will target three of the MLAs on their list at that time, but have not said which ones.