While the recent Liberal and NDP provincial leadership races, and a federal election, have overshadowed the vote of the harmonized sales tax, the B.C. Liberal government is hoping the public will soon turn their attention seriously to the vote.
The B.C. Liberal government has set a schedule for a series of telephone town halls to get input on the harmonized sales tax in advance of a referendum set for June.
The call for the Northern Interior and North Coast has been set for May 4, but it is subject to change to accommodate conflicting events including the Stanley Cup playoffs.
"It's important because it really sets the direction of taxation in B.C. It's not very often you get to make a choice like this," said Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell.
He would like to see people take the time to become informed on the HST, and believes there is enough time once the federal election ends on May 2 and the June 24 vote.
Ballots will be mailed out starting June 13, and all British Columbians should receive their ballot by June 24.
While new Liberal Premier Christy Clark moved up the date of the vote to June 24 from September, the public has until July 22 to have their ballot into Elections B.C.
The telephone town halls are part of a "talking taxes" process Finance Minister Kevin Falcon announced just more than a week ago, saying the process would seek input on how the HST could be changed to get people to vote in favour of keeping it.
Falcon said everything was up for discussion, including reducing the 12 per cent HST and providing relief on certain items. He said the changes would be known before people began voting.
The input process was part of an announcement that released details of a $1.7-million information campaign. The cost of the talking taxes process -- separate from the information campaign -- is not known yet.
As part of the information funding, the province is providing $500,000 to be spilt between the no and yes sides, which will be administered by independent decision maker Stephen Owen, a former provincial ombudsman and federal MP from Vancouver.
Another $500,000 is being provided to universities and colleges to host public forums on the HST. The government will also spend $700,000 on a HST guide to be sent to all households that will explain the vote on the tax and provide views on keeping the HST, and returning to the former system.
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How the telephone town halls will work:
- A dial-out to every publicly listed number will go out to the Northern Interior and North Coast regions on May 4. Calls to regions throughout the province begin Tuesday.
- A recorded message will ask if you are interested in taking part.
- If you do, stay on the line and follow the instructions. If not, just hang up.
- You can ask a question of Finance Minister Kevin Falcon and Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom by following the instructions.
- The call to the Northern Interior region may be moved based on the Canucks' playoff schedule.
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