B.C. finance minister Kevin Falcon in Vancouver, British Columbia, January 12, 2011.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Before a June referendum on the harmonized sales tax, the B.C. government will consider and commit to changes to the tax that could include cuts in the rate, Finance Minister Kevin Falcon says.
The government says it is too late to change the wording of the referendum, but that it will review ideas gathered as part of a $1.7-million program of public consultation called "Talking Taxes," and promise to act on some.
Mr. Falcon, who proposed a 2-per-cent cut in the tax when he was running for the leadership of the B.C. Liberals, said it isn't possible to reduce the tax before next year due to an agreement with the federal government.
"Part of what we're trying to do is listen to British Columbians and see if there is a responsible way that we can improve the HST in an effort to try and bring as much of the public on side to support what we believe, at the end of the day, is very sound public policy," Mr. Falcon said in a news conference.
Mr. Falcon said the promise of such tweaks was aimed at rallying support for the controversial tax, introduced after the 2009 provincial election even though the Liberals ruled it out during the campaign.
The consultation effort announced on Thursday is the response of rookie Premier Christy Clark and her government to dealing with the unpopular tax, a legacy of departed premier Gordon Campbell, whose political career was arguably cut short by the tax.
The referendum was prompted after tens of thousands of British Columbians signed a petition demanding it under the province's Initiative legislation - the first time such a drive has been successful.
Other aspects of the consultation program include $500,000 for public information efforts by groups supporting and opposed to the tax.
Former B.C. ombudsman Stephen Owen, who also served as a federal Liberal cabinet minister, will administer the fund.
"Mr. Owen will serve as an independent funding decision maker to make sure this public funding is allocated in a fair and accountable way," Attorney-General Barry Penner told the news conference.
Other aspects of the program include $500,000 for forums on the tax at colleges, universities and institutes, and $700,000 for a voters guide that will include information from both sides of the issue. Mr. Falcon is going on tour to talk about the tax, and provincewide tele-town halls are planned.
However, the government still has the latitude for its own advertising on the tax, and Mr. Falcon suggested it will provide balanced information. "I am not going to run any hysterical scare campaigns about the fact that the world is coming to an end if the HST is defeated," he said.
The minister was unable to provide any details on Thursday on how much the government would spend.
The government is also not imposing any limits on third-party spending for or against the tax.
That had Bill Tieleman of the Fight HST movement expressing concerns that his group would be outspent by big business.
"People thought there would be a fair contest between both sides. Instead, we're going to get the government and big business spending millions of dollars on advertising and leaflets and we'll be touring in rent-a-cars and holding meetings in church basements," he said.
NDP finance critic Bruce Ralston also expressed concerns about unbalanced spending. "You have now the prospect of unlimited spending by big-business proponents in favour of the HST," he said.
He also said the effort is too late. "It's a very belated public debate because the time to have this debate was back in 2009, prior to the election," he said.
Ballots for the yes or no referendum on the HST will be mailed out on June 13, and most British Columbians are expected to have them by June. 24, which has effectively been set as the date of the vote. They must be returned to Elections BC by July 22.
Ian Bailey