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An anti-HST pin.Lyle Stafford for the Globe and Mail

Government financing for the Yes and No side in the HST referendum will be divided equally between Bill Vander Zalm's Fight HST and an alliance of B.C. businesses and organizations that supports the harmonized sales tax.

Four applications were submitted for $500,000 in public funding. The B.C. Federation of Labour and the Council of Senior Citizens' Organizations of B.C. were turned down. The funding decision was made by former B.C. ombudsman Stephen Owen, who was appointed to oversee the referendum on the HST. Mail-in ballots for the referendum are to be distributed beginning June 13.

The seniors group, which opposes the HST, had applied for $25,000 to pay for a provincewide campaign to notify its members about the timing and wording of the referendum, Sylvia MacLeay, the group's president, said in an interview.

Ms. MacLeay said she was surprised that the government decided to give Mr. Vander Zalm's group all the money allocated for those against the HST.

However, the lack of funding will not stop the seniors. The group intends to work with Fight HST, printing up a pamphlet that can be used in the campaign against the tax, Ms. MacLeay said.

The Smart Tax Alliance, which will have $250,000 in public funds to campaign in favour of the tax, is a group of 38 B.C. businesses and industry organizations formed about a year ago. The alliance is planning speaking events across the province and intends to use social media to talk about the importance of the tax to the economy and to jobs.

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