Nearly 33,000 people joined the first two harmonized sales tax telephone town-hall meetings, in the Peace River region in northern B.C. and in Surrey.
The telephone town halls are part of the B.C. Liberal government's "talking taxes" process meant to answer questions but also to seek input on how the HST could be changed to get people to vote in favour of keeping it.
The telephone town hall for the Northern Interior and North Coast has been set for this Wednesday, but it is subject to change to accommodate conflicting events, including the Stanley Cup playoffs
"Given the thousands of people who participated in these calls, it's clear that British Columbians want to be part of an informed discussion on the HST," said B.C. Finance Minister Kevin Falcon.
"What impressed me most were the questions people had about the HST and the various suggestions brought forward on how we might improve it."
A list of suggestions wasn't immediately available.
The vote on the HST is a result of a successful initiative petition led by former-premier Bill Vander Zalm. More than 700,000 people signed the petition last year protesting the introduction of the HST by the B.C. Liberal government, which, in part, led to the resignation of Premier Gordon Campbell half way through his third term.
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.
Falcon has said everything is up for discussion on the HST, including reducing the 12 per cent tax and providing relief on certain items. He said the changes would be known before people began voting.
The B.C. Liberal government has also announced 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.
The NDP's new leader, Adrian Dix, has said he will play a leading role in fighting the HST in the run-up to the vote.
Stikine NDP MLA Doug Donaldson said there is no escaping the fact the HST is a $1.9-billion tax transfer from corporations to consumers.
Cariboo North NDP MLA Bob Simpson has called on the B.C. Liberal government to expand its harmonized sales tax debate into a comprehensive assessment of the province's tax and revenue regime.
