Fury over the provincial government's planned harmonized sales tax has helped bring together the strangest of bedfellows.
Former Social Credit Premier Bill Vander Zalm is reaching out to the NDP to fight the HST.
He is scheduled to appear Saturday at an anti-HST rally in Vancouver, one of many happening across the province. He said he couldn't ignore what he sees as a betrayal of B.C. voters by the BC Liberals.
"We are going to work on having it rescinded," he said. "We will have an initiative planned this spring and will try a recall next fall. We will challenge it constitutionally if need be."
BC NDP leader Carole James says the HST is a cause worth putting partisanship aside for.
She says Liberal MLAs have told her confidentially they're getting a lot of heat about the HST, and she wants to keep the pressure on.
"You know, it would only take eight of those Liberal MLAs to stand up and say no to the HST -- to actually stand up for the people in their community."
The provincial government has said that come July 2010, the PST will be eliminated and a 7 percent provincial rate will be added to the 5 percent GST, forming the 12 percent HST.
BC Liberals say harmonizing the GST and PST will save employers $2 billion that can be used to lower prices, increase investment and create jobs.
Even as Finance Minister Colin Hansen tried to sell the HST to the Surrey Board of Trade on Friday, he admitted that it's not popular.
"We are not under any illusions even before we made this announcement that this would win us a popularity contest," he said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Leah Hendry.
