Former Premier Bill Vander Zalm has launched a legal challenge to kill the dreaded harmonized sales tax dead in its tracks.
In a petition for judicial review filed on Monday to B.C. Supreme Court, Vander Zalm's attorney Joseph Arvay argued the HST violates core principles of the Constitution by allowing for taxation without representation because the federal-provincial pact to enact tax was never ratified or approved in legislature.
"The constitution does not allow you, or [Premier Gordon] Campbell, or I, or the [finance] minister to impose a tax on the people," Vander Zalm explained on the steps outside B.C. Supreme Court in downtown Vancouver. "Only the legislature can do that and this has been recognized in every other province."
Arvay added a federal vote in Ottawa to approve B.C.'s HST does not amount to taxation with representation.
"The HST wasn't just imposed by Parliament," he said. "It was imposed by the agreement of the executive. Without the agreement of that executive there would be no tax imposed in British Columbia and the executive could not end-run the legislature."
Should this challenge be successful, Avray believes the tax would cease to be collected as of the ruling.
Vander Zalm did not disclose how the legal challenge would be financed but said a fundraising drive would help defray costs.
Fight HST campaigner Chris Delany said the action challenges the legality of the tax and is independent of the Fight HST petition, which is also scheduled for judicial review.
Vander Zalm's challenge could begin as soon as August 1.