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B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell on Monday, Dec. 7, 2009.Geoff Howe /The Canadian Press

British Columbia's map is increasingly painted in "No HST" colours, but Premier Gordon Campbell vowed Tuesday to press ahead with the tax change despite the political price he is paying.

"I think there's probably only one thing in the province less popular than the HST and that's potentially me at this particular moment," Mr. Campbell said.

Earlier in the day, organizers of a petition to repeal the new tax under B.C.'s citizen-driven initiative process announced they have already gathered enough signatures in 83 of the province's 85 ridings to meet the requirements to force Mr. Campbell's government into retreat.

Chris Delaney, the chief organizer of the petition, said Mr. Campbell's refusal to back down despite the growing opposition could trigger an avalanche of recall campaigns against Liberal MLAs across the province.

But Mr. Campbell maintained he is not looking for an exit from the tax deal his government has signed with Ottawa.

"We are going to carry through with this, it's the right thing to do for British Columbia," the Premier told reporters in Victoria. To seek to undo the deal with Ottawa "would be a major mistake."

Mr. Campbell's B.C. Liberal Party won its third consecutive term one year ago and announced the shift to the HST just two months later, despite having stated during the election campaign that it was not contemplating the shift. The 12-per-cent tax, which merges the federal goods and services tax with the provincial sales tax, comes into effect on July 1. It means a number of services and some goods that were previously exempt from the PST will now cost more.

Mr. Campbell said he is confident voters will be less angry once they see how the HST impacts them. By then, the petition process will be complete.

Under the province's initiative law, the petition must be signed by 10 per cent of eligible voters in every riding by July 5 to succeed. If Elections BC verifies the targets have been met, the government will either launch a provincewide referendum next year, or an all-party committee of MLAs could draft a legislative amendment.

The organizers of the petition have said they are aiming for 15 per cent of voters in each riding to allow for invalid signatures. By that measure, they are still short in 27 ridings, mostly in Metro Vancouver.

Mr. Delaney said he expects canvassers from other regions will be shifting their attention to Vancouver in the remaining six weeks.

"By the first or second week of June, we'll be 15 per cent everywhere," he said.

The next step - if the government uses the tools at its disposal to delay repealing the tax - would be a recall campaign against Mr. Campbell and Finance Minister Colin Hansen.

"As the numbers get bigger and the Premier digs in deeper, there seem to be this kind of standoff between the government and their people," Mr. Delaney said.

Using the HST petition numbers as a guide, it appears there are a number of Liberal MLAs who could be vulnerable to an attempt to unseat them under the province's recall law. Mr. Delaney said he isn't advocating trying to bring down the Campbell government.

"But I think if they were to vote this petition down," he said, "the fury out there would be so great there may be recalls breaking out all over the place that would have nothing to do with us."

With a report from Frances Bula in Vancouver

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