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An all-party legislative committee has voted to hold a provincewide referendum on the B.C. Liberals' harmonized sales tax.

According to media reports, the referendum is scheduled for September 24, 2011, and will cost the province as much as $30 million.

The vote will be a nonbinding initiative and require the support of 50 percent of registered voters to pass.

In accordance with the B.C. Recall and Initiative Act, if the referendum is successful, the legislature will hold a vote on the resolution, at which time it could still be voted down.

CNKW AM 980 is reporting that former premier Bill Vander Zalm, who organized the anti-HST petition, has expressed his disappointment with the decision on account of the referendum's high threshold for success. Vander Zalm said that he and his supporters will continue to focus on recalling Liberal politicians.

As previously reported by the Straight, the group of six Liberal MLAs and four New Democrats met last week but did not reach a decision on whether to send the petition to the legislature for a vote or recommend a provincewide, referendum-style initiative vote.

Today’s committee ruling comes on the heels of news that anti-HST protests are planned for the offices of both B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and finance minister Colin Hansen.

Earlier this year, organizers collected approximately 700,000 names on a petition opposed to the 12-percent HST.

You can follow Travis Lupick on Twitter at twitter.com/tlupick.

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