The provincial government is launching a public engagement process to consider options to improve the harmonized sales tax (HST), Deputy Premier and Finance
Minister Kevin Falcon and Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Blair Lekstrom announced April 14.
The "Talking Taxes" public engagement will provide an opportunity for government to listen to the public and help determine what improvements may be made to the HST.
Talking Taxes events will begin this week and will include: province-wide tele-town halls conducted by region, stakeholder meetings with a wide variety of groups with interest in the HST and website information and suggestions for improvement.
"Over the next three weeks we want to hear from British Columbians about fiscally reasonable policy options available to improve the HST," said Falcon in a news release. "While it is clear to everyone the implementation of the HST was poorly undertaken, this engagement will assist in helping us to better understand what changes could be made to improve the HST."
Also on April 14, the Ministry of Attorney General announced that the province would provide $1.7 million in funding to ensure the public is engaged and informed about the HST in advance of the June referendum vote.
Under the plan government will provide a total of $500,000 for the "yes" and "no" sides, subject to conditions on the appropriate use of public funding and accountability for spending; create a public dialogues fund of $500,000 to be independently managed by the province's public universities, colleges and institutes to hold informative public dialogues in advance of the referendum; and produce and send a comprehensive voter's guide to every home in B.C. with information on the referendum including statements provided directly by the main "yes" and "no" groups, a summary of the independent panel report on the HST, and other information to help inform voters about the referendum ballot. The cost of this guide is approximately $700,000.
In order to ensure a fair process for allocating public funding and mediate any disputes over the format and locations for the public dialogues, the Honourable Stephen Owen, QC, PC has been appointed as an independent funding decision-maker. Owen, a former B.C. Ombudsman, is acting in a personal capacity utilizing his extensive background in public engagement and mediation. He will make public funding allocation decisions for both sides as well as finalizing an appropriate format and locations for the public dialogues.
We have heard very clearly that British Columbians want fact-based information on the referendum," said Attorney General Barry Penner in a news release. "The provision of public funding for "yes" and "no" sides, along with independently-run public dialogues and a voter's guide, will ensure a thorough and thoughtful debate about returning to both the PST and GST sales tax system or keeping the single HST."
For more information about the HST referendum, visit: www.hstinbc.ca.
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