In quotes: B.C. officials weigh in on the HST vote
“A victory for common sense and working families.” — Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of LabourHandout
“The people of British Columbia have spoken. After millions of tax dollars were spent to defend the HST, the Liberals failed to convince British Columbians that the tax was in their best interest.” — B.C. Conservative Leader John CumminsJohn Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
“We respect the referendum decision and the need to restore the old PST-GST system, but a dialogue needs to take place that puts jobs first under a competitive tax system.” — Peter Leitch, co-chair of the Smart Tax Alliance, a coalition of business groups which had lobbied to keep the HST.Lyle Stafford/The Globe and Mail
“B.C. industries are faced with a variety of competitive challenges, including increased global competition, continued protectionism in foreign markets, rising input and commodity costs and a high Canadian dollar. The HST would have helped significantly with these challenges.” — Peter Jeffrey, B.C. vice president of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.Brian Sprout/The Globe and Mail
“I think we've shown that democracy can work the way it ought to work, where in fact the government has to consult the people.” — Former premier Bill Vander Zalm, who spearheaded the Fight HST campaignBen Nelms/Reuters
“I'm obviously, as a finance minister, disappointed by the result but not all together surprised. We recognized when we started, from a place where 85 per cent of the public was opposed to the HST, in large measure due to our own handling of the introduction of that major policy change, that we had an uphill battle.” — B.C. Finance Minister Kevin FalconDarryl Dyck/The Canadian Press
“We are really changing the way government goes about engaging the citizens. They wanted to know that government understood the way this was brought in well over a year ago wasn't good enough.” — Premier Christy ClarkDarryl Dyck/The Canadian Press
“I'm ... pleased that a campaign that was fundamentally a grassroots campaign beat a government campaign by the Liberals and their allies, that misused public funds on Liberal partisan ads and engaged, I think, in one the most lopsided spending campaigns this province — this country — has ever seen. In the end, the right view came out and I think that British Columbia will have a better future economically and politically and democratically as a result.” — B.C. NDP Leader Adrian DixRafal Gerszak/The Globe and Mail