Could there be $1,000 rebates coming as in Ontario when the harmonized sales tax was introduced there?
Perhaps the Christy Clark-led B.C. Liberal government will cut the HST by one to two per cent, or exempt some additional items, like restaurant meals or sports equipment, as was suggested by a number of people on the government's recent telephone town hall in B.C.'s Interior that attracted 23,000 listeners.
Although promised changes will not be revealed until the end of the month, Clark says the changes will be bold, smart and help families.
Providing some additional information, Nechako Lakes Liberal MLA John Rustad said they want to respond to the feedback from the public calling for a fix to the HST through reducing the burden on additional taxed items and the extra burden on consumers.
"Before the end of the month, what you will hear is a strategy to try to mitigate as many of those impacts as have been created by the HST," said Rustad, whose riding west of Prince George includes the communities of Fort St. James and Vanderhoof.
Rustad added the changes will be a government commitment on the HST should the tax remain in place.
The Liberals are facing a mail-in-ballot referendum next month on the future of the HST. The vote was moved up by Clark to June from September, but voting has been extended into July.
The B.C. Liberals have tried to run a fine line on the referendum, offering up millions of dollars of what they are calling factual information on the HST to help people make a decision; but they clearly want to keep the tax in place.
B.C. Liberals, including Jobs Minister Pat Bell, whose riding is Prince George-Mackenzie, have warned that voting to reject the HST and return to the old tax system would mean limited choices. Those include increasing taxes, increasing the deficit or decreasing services.
While critics have argued a panel report commissioned by the B.C. government show the Liberals oversold the benefits, the Liberals note the report shows going back to the old system would reduce tax revenues by more than $500 million annually.
Political scientist Norman Ruff says there is no telling exactly what Clark will do. While, trimming the HST by a percentage point would be simple, her statement that the changes will be "bold" leads him to believe she may have another strategy in mind.
They clearly need to do something, in part, to show they are flexible and are listening to the public, said Ruff, a professor emeritus at the University of Victoria.
"What I read behind it was that while there's a sense the deep anger that was there last summer has dissipated somewhat, opinion is still leaning towards a rejection of the HST," he said.
Prince George anti-HST organizer Eric Allen said he believes the Liberals can't be trusted over their promises of HST changes. He said the Liberals are clearly fighting to keep in place a system that will provide them more taxes over time, shifting the burden onto consumers from business.
Allen said they will fighting against the tax in communities throughout northern B.C., in the face of millions the province is spending on its own information campaign.
"We are going to fight it tooth and nail."
