British Columbians will scrap the harmonized sales tax in the ongoing mail-in referendum if New Westminster burger eaters have anything to do with it.
After one week of unofficial or "(b)unofficial" polling at Burger Heaven on 10th Street, restaurant patrons have, by Tuesday, cast 89 votes in favour of extinguishing the tax compared to 39 votes to keep it.
Much like previous federal and provincial elections, the restaurant is engaging its customers in polling by allowing them to cast votes with their orders. Unlike past polls, however, there is no specific burger to order to indicate a yes or no vote.
Steve Domaas, Burger Heaven kitchen manager, said the preliminary results haven't been what he expected, especially when it comes to the number of people ready to vote.
"A lot of people just aren't quite interested in this one right now. I honestly figured there would be more participation but as we get closer and people start to get their mail-in ballots, more people will get involved," he said.
All the same, he added that HST has been on the lips of his customers as much as excess ketchup and mustard.
The heavy skewing towards a yes vote also isn't something Domaas predicted.
"I'm just as surprised there's more of a yes vote than a no vote. I figured that by now, it's already been in for just over a year, everyone would be accustomed to it."
Domaas speculated that anger over the HST's original inception is pushing people towards voting yes.
But Domaas knows better than to second-guess his customers when so many of the past (b)unofficial polls have turned out to be right.
"For last election, it was bang-on. We had the Conservatives winning and we had the NDP come in second," he said.
Patrons can vote in the latest burger poll up until the referendum ends on Aug. 4.
