From left, HST opponents Bill Tieleman, Chris Delaney and Bill Vander Zalm outside the B.C. Supreme Court on Aug. 20.
Putting off the vexatious question of the fate of B.C.'s harmonized sales tax to a referendum more than a year away would be toxic to the economy, says a leading defender of the HST.
The legislature committee now handling the citizen initiative that calls for the repeal of the HST has two choices: It can send the question to a referendum vote that will delay any resolution until as late as the spring of 2012, or it can hand it over to the B.C. Legislature for a vote as early as this fall.
Rick Jeffery, president and CEO of Coast Forest Products Association, was a key organizer of the industry court challenge to the anti-HST petition, and on Monday his position intersected for the first time with anti-HST campaigner Bill Vander Zalm. Both want the tax question resolved as quickly as possible.
"One of the reasons the business community wanted clarity for our members is so that they would know the tax climate and structure they are operating in," Mr. Jeffery said.
Mr. Jeffery's group - along with five other business associations - sought to have the anti-HST initiative ruled invalid, but the B.C. Supreme Court upheld the petition last week.
The business coalition will not appeal the ruling - Mr. Jeffery said the important thing now is to have the fate of the tax settled as quickly as possible.
"People don't know what's going on with the tax environment in B.C., and as long as that persists, capital is going to have to examine that risk," he said. "That will impact investment and job creation."
On Monday, Mr. Vander Zalm called for a free vote in the legislature this fall on the tax. The opposition New Democratic Party agrees.
The all-party legislature committee will meet for the first time, likely in September, and then has 90 days to deliver a decision. Under B.C. law, a referendum would be non-binding and requires the support of half of all eligible voters in B.C. - a challenging requirement given that total voter turnout in the last election was less than 51 per cent.
Even if the referendum passed, the result would then be returned to the legislature for a decision.
Finance Minister Colin Hansen, the architect of the controversial tax, said in an interview Monday he won't support taking the tax apart now that it is in place.
"If the HST was undone retroactively and the PST reimposed, that would have major implications," he said. Some businesses have already made purchases based on the new tax and it would be difficult to claw back any benefits they have accrued. "Quite frankly, I think that would be quite an irresponsible thing for any legislature to do."
However, Mr. Hansen doesn't believe the uncertainty over the tax is hurting the economy. "I have yet to meet anyone in the business community that is avoiding investment decisions based on speculation that somehow the HST might get undone."
John Winter, president and CEO of the BC Chamber of Commerce, said his group is disappointed with the court's ruling. It is still not clear whether Mr. Vander Zalm's proposal to repeal the tax is legally valid, he said.
He called on Attorney General Mike de Jong to render a decision on whether Mr. Vander Zalm's proposed law is workable. Mr. de Jong was not available for comment.
"The Attorney General has got to stand up and be counted here," Mr. Winter said. "He is the only one who can decide if it is legislatively valid."
Mr. Vander Zalm, contacted on Monday, suggested there is another way to settle the question. He said he'd like to see a referendum on the HST, but only if the rules are changed first.
"If the Premier will agree to holding a binding referendum with a simple majority, we'll go away and do no more," he said. "I'd like to go back to my garden."
Justine Hunter