A petition led by a group opposed to a harmonized sales tax (HST) in B.C. has reached a benchmark, according to a report from CBC News.

The petition against the HST, to which the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association is also vehemently opposed, has now garnered 300,000 signatures, says Chris Delaney, one of the campaign’s organizers.

According to the report, B.C. Elections requires petitioners to reach a 10 per cent threshold of registered voters in each of the province’s 85 electoral districts. As such, organizers say there is much more work ahead, as they claim to have reached that mark in just 44 ridings.

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VANCOUVER — The Top Table Group of restaurants performed well again this year at The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, which saw awards handed out to the group’s Blue Water Café, CinCin, Araxi and West, as well as other favourite restaurants, like Vij’s and Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill & Enoteca, to name a few.

“The trade competitions give the festival an opportunity to honour and celebrate those professionals who have developed and enhanced the extraordinary wine and food culture of our region,” said Harry Hertscheg, festival executive director, of the awards, which were handed out at a recent luncheon.

VANCOUVER — Weetabix Canada and Breakfast for Learning will join forces for an upcoming promotion that will kick off this coming Thursday during an outdoor Big Breakfast event at the Pacific Centre and TD Plaza in Vancouver.

The special day, which will mark the launch of FuelYourHealthyLifestyle.com, will feature trampoline artists and B-boy dancers entertaining attendees who will be treated to Weetabix breakfast parfaits. The aim of the day is to promote the new website where visitors can enter a healthy lifestyle contest to win one of five mountain bikes. For every entry, Weetabix Canada will provide one breakfast to a child through the Breakfast for Learning in-school programs.

VANCOUVER — MonkeyMedia Software, a Vancouver-based provider of online operations solutions for the foodservice industry, recently announced that Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc. (ENRG) deployed both MonkeyOnlineOrdering and MonkeyCatering to enable end-to-end visibility and control over the catering business for its Einstein Bros. Bagels brand.

The New York-based, fast-casual restaurant group has more than 600 restaurants in 36 states, including Einstein Bros. Bagels, Noah’s New York Bagels and Manhattan Bagel. ENRG integrated MonkeyOnlineOrdering and MonkeyCatering into its catering platform and created a new catering website, which customers of Einstein Bros. restaurants can use across the nation.