With the launch day for the new harmonized sales tax just a week away, the Fight HST campaign is now turning its attention to a push to recall 24 Liberal MLAs.

Former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm said the group will be targeting Liberals in ridings where signatures on the anti-HST petition reached more than 25 per cent of registered voters.

He told CTV News that the group hasn't yet decided which MLAs will be targeted first, but the list includes:

  • John Slater - Boundary-Similkameen
  • Pat Pimm - Peace River North
  • Donna Barnette - Cariboo Chilcotin
  • George Abbott - Shuswap
  • Terry Lake - Kamloops North
  • Bill Bennett - Kootenay East
  • Ida Chong - Oak Bay - Gordon Head
  • Ron Cantelon - Parksville - Qualicum
  • Bill Barisoff - Penticton
  • Murray Coell - Saanich North
  • Gordon Hogg - Surrey-Whiterock
  • Barry Penner - Chilliwack - Hope
  • Norm Letnik - Kelowna-Lake Country
  • Ben Stewart - Kelowna-Westside
  • Steve Thomson - Kelowna-Mission
  • Eric Foster - Vernon-Monashee
  • Kash Heed - Vancouver-Fraserview
  • Kevin Kruger - Kamloops South
  • Richard Lee - Burnaby North
  • John Les - Chilliwack
  • Don McRae - Comox Valley
  • John Rustad - Nechako Lakes
  • Mary Pollack - Langley
  • Pat Bell - Prince George-Mackenzie

For a recall petition to be accepted by Elections BC, 40 per cent of registered voters in the targeted MLA's riding must sign on. The earliest the recall efforts can begin is November.

Vander Zalm said that he's launching the recall campaign in response to the B.C. government's apparent resolve to push ahead with the HST, even though more than 15 per cent of registered voters in every riding in the province have signed the petition against the tax.

"We thought that with 700,000 signatures, the premier would certainly give in and say that the people have spoken, but that's not the case," Vander Zalm said.

His advice to the MLAs on the hit list is to follow the example of Blair Lekstrom, who resigned as energy minister of June 11 in response to public opposition to the HST.

"I think that if they want to be around for a while in the political arena, they'd better think about stepping aside," Vander Zalm said.

Finance Minister Colin Hansen told CTV News that the Fight HST campaign is welcome to start a recall campaign.

"Citizens have that right," he said. "This group is certainly within their right to pursue this avenue."

But Hansen added that the government plans to launch an outreach campaign about the HST in an effort to "dissipate" outrage over the tax, and he's hopeful that will reverse the current direction of public opinion.

"There is a lot of public anger, there's a lot of public frustration, about the HST," he said. "But I've found that as people get information about how that's actually going to impact on their family budget, a lot of that anger dissipated."

Watch CTV News at 11:30 for a report from Maria Weisgarber