B.C.’s film and TV industry has waded into the HST debate on the side of the tax claiming it will drive job creation in their industry and across the economy.
Film executives as well as representatives from the Smart Tax Alliance, a pro-HST group of business leaders, gathered Thursday at North Shore Studios to explain how the HST’s additional 7% tax saving for local studios makes B.C. more competitive with film centres in Ontario and the United States.
Peter Leitch, president of North Shore Studios and Mammoth Studios and chair of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of British Columbia (MPPIA), said that studios, producers, equipment rental shops, set-builders and caterers will all see costs go down as a result of the HST.
More than $1 billion of the $1.3 billion in production spending in B.C. last year was from non-Canadian productions filming in the province.
Smart Tax Alliance spokesperson Jock Finlayson, who is also executive vice-president of the Business Council of British Columbia, said the PST was a barrier to the kind of investments that create employment and drive the economy.
“The HST is strong medicine for our economy – just like medicine, it may taste bad, but it’s going to make sure we’re healthy and strong tomorrow,” he said. “It’s going to help protect the jobs we have, help spark job creation and help create higher-paying jobs.”