The government of B.C. has released a draft of the question that will be asked in the referendum on the harmonized sales tax.
Elections BC delivered the proposed question to the government Wednesday, and Attorney General Michael de Jong released it to the public soon after.
The proposed question for the Sept. 24, 2011 vote is:
"Are you in favour of extinguishing the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) and reinstating the PST (Provincial Sales Tax) in conjunction with the GST (Goods and Services Tax)? Yes/No."
Chief Electoral Officer Craig James said he "agonized" over the wording of the question, and finally decided on something short and simple.
Both NDP leader Carole James and Finance Minister Colin Hansen have said they find the wording to be straightforward and easy to understand.
But public opinion researcher Evi Mustel told CTV News that she found the yes/no format of the question to be slightly slanted.
"I think this question is slightly biased towards extinguishing the HST," she said, suggesting that voters should have been given a choice between two scenarios instead.
"I think that providing two options would have been a more balanced approach."
What do you think? Is the question easy to understand? How will you answer?
