30 MINUTES OR LESS LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK HEIST {page 23} FEAST ON LOBSTER DIP IN WITH RED PEPPER AND LIME BUTTER {page 28}
MAN STILL SOUGHT IN KNIFE ATTACK ON COP {page 4}
VANCOUVER
Weekend, August 1214, 2011 www.metronews.ca News worth sharing.
Riders.
HST results a toss-up as voters weigh in 52.6 per cent of registered voters cast HST referendum ballot Fate of controversial tax to be decided around Aug. 25 JEFF HODSON/METRO FILE
MATT KIELTYKA
@METRONEWS.CA
RYAN LACEY/CONTRIBUTED
Off with his melonhead Roughriders fans were told to doff their gourd helmets at the gates to Empire Field last Friday, after the PNE decided to ban watermelons from the stadium to prevent the sweet green lids from getting tossed on the field. Story, page 6.
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voter turnout as a positive for their respective interests. “It means democracy can really work,� said an elated Bill Vander Zalm, the former premier turned Fight HST organizer. “People clearly wanted to be involved
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Roughrider fan Ryan Lacey displays his watermelon helmet ahead of last Friday’s B.C. Lions game.
Like two sides of a coin, the fate of the harmonized sales tax seems to be a tale of halves. Elections BC announced Thursday that more than 1.6 million registered voters turned in their mailin referendum by last Friday’s deadline. That’s just more than half — 52.6 per cent — of registered voters. The number isn’t far off the 2009 provincial general election that saw 55.14 per cent of registered voters cast a ballot. Meanwhile, the two opposing and vocal sides of the HST debate — Fight HST and the Smart Tax Alliance — are heralding the high
and be a part of the process.� Smart Tax Alliance co-chair Peter Leitch also bragged about the turnout as a victory for the pro-HST side. “I think it bodes well and is a very positive step,� Leitch said. “If the turnout was less, it would show the public is apathetic.� Both sides think the final result will be close, but that’s about all they agree on. Fight HST has long argued that the 12 per cent harmonized tax costs families more, while the Smart Tax Alliance claims the shift stimulates the economy and job creation. Vander Zalm and Leitch will have to wait for the results to be announced on or around Aug. 25, to see which side of the debate British Columbians flipped for.
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