Former-premier Bill Vander Zalm will be making his case against the harmonized sales tax on Thursday evening at UNBC, part of the B.C. government-sponsored public information sessions in the lead up to a referendum vote next month.
The mail-in ballot will determine whether the HST stays or the province returns to its former tax system, including a provincial sales tax (PST) and a goods and service tax (GST).
The session at UNBC's Canfor Theatre is scheduled from 7:30 to 9 p.m., and is open to the public.
Vander Zalm will be joined by Chris Delaney, also a leading member of the Fight HST contingent. On the other side, tax lawyer David Robertson and Dan McLaren, of Prince George-based Commonwealth Financial, will be arguing in favour of the HST for the Smart Tax Alliance.
Each side in the referendum vote will have the chance to present their positions and respond to questions from forum participants.
The Smart Tax Alliance is a group of 39 businesses and business group which support the HST. Among them are the Mining Association of B.C., the Council of Forest Industries and Initiatives Prince George, the city's economic development agency.
The two sides are allowed 10-minute opening presentations and five-minute rebuttals, which will be followed by questions from the audience.
- If you can't attend in person, you can watch this event live at www.hstpublicforums.ca and participate in an online forum, on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/HSTForums) and on Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/hstforums).
