The B.C. Liberal government should move up the date of a vote on rescinding the HST scheduled for Sept. 2011, Prince George Chamber of Commerce president Roy Spooner told the province's finance committee Tuesday.
Spooner was responding to a question from NDP MLA Bill Routley, a member of the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, which is seeking input on next year's operating and capital budget.
In the face of opposition to the HST, including a successful initiative petition with more than 500,000 signatures, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell has said the government will abide by a simple majority of those who vote. That's a lower threshold than mandated under provincial law.
However, anti-HST forces led by former-B.C. premier Gordon Campbell, have called for the vote to take place sooner.
Asked what impact the HST was having, Spooner said he hasn't seen any fact-based analysis. He said that while there are people who are disturbed by the the HST, he told the committee he believed that has more to do with how it was introduced. The B.C. Liberal government, including B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, has already acknowledge they did not do a good job of explaining the HST. The new tax - which combines the seven per cent provincial sales and five per cent GST - came into effect on July 1.
The change means consumers will pay the provincial seven per cent portion of the HST on some new items including meals, domestic airline tickets, funerals, haircuts and new homes over $525,000.
There are some exemptions on the provincial portion of the tax including gasoline, children's clothing and diapers. As well, items that are currently GST exempt, such as basic groceries, will not be subject to the HST.
Spooner also noted that the HST will benefit some of the major employers in the region, adding he believes they will reinvest the savings in their businesses.
The Liberals say the savings from the HST to the business sector - including the forestry, mining, and oil and gas sectors - is estimated at $2 billion which will be reinvested in the economy and passed on to consumers.
In the Prince George Chamber's presentation to the finance committee, it called on the government to balance its budget before creating new spending, and support economic diversification and new infrastructure, including the a power line in northwest B.C. meant to stimulate mining.
Several social agencies called on the government to increase funding for children, women's shelters and hospice houses. Darrell Roze, the executive director of the Child Development Centre, said they are in dire need of funding for more early intervention therapy services, calling on the province to double funding to $61.4 million.
Those services are provided to children with both physical and learning disabilities, which can help these children have a better chance of entering the school system with typical abilities, Roze told the committee.
Spending $10,000 on a child at an early stage can help save more than $700,000 over their life time, noted Roze.
The Prince George Hospice House and the Elizabeth Frye Society also called for more funding.
