Nanaimo and the North Island will be getting a dose of former premier Bill Vander Zalm this week as the man behind the campaign to kill the harmonized sales tax swings across the Island to rally the troops.
After a town hall meeting in Victoria tomorrow evening, Vander Zalm will hold similar events in Nanaimo at Beban Park Lounge at noon on Friday, and at the Courtenay Legion Hall Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Vander Zalm is touring the province to drum up support for his citizen initiative campaign, which needs to land the support of 10 per cent of registered voters in all 85 electoral districts before July 5.
Nanaimo and Courtenay residents who want to sign the petition can do so at the two town hall meetings.
Numbers released this week by mid-Island campaign organizer Terry Hand showed that region has made a strong start.
According to Hand, as of 3 p.m. yesterday, the Nanaimo riding had already surpassed the number of signatures required with 3,900 -- it required 3,874.
"This is great news and shows the resolve of the people of sa国际传媒 on this issue," said Hand. "These results come after only four days of collecting signatures."
Organizers in the ridings of Parksville-Qualicum, Cowichan Valley and Nanaimo-North Cowichan had collected about a quarter of the signatures they need.
According to Fight HST lead organizer Chris Delaney, the town hall sessions tend to boost the petition campaign.
"White Rock and Maple Ridge have both had town hall meetings since the petition started and we gathered about 1,000 signatures in both places," he said. "There's an overwhelming demand."
