The B.C. government has appointed a panel to smooth the reintroduction of the provincial sales tax (PST), Finance Minister Kevin Falcon told the Vancouver Board of Trade January 10 in a luncheon speech.
University of British Columbia (UBC) chancellor Sarah Morgan-Silvester will chair the panel, which will also include:
- Lindsay Hall, chief financial officer, Goldcorp;
- Laura Jones, senior vice-president, research, economics and western Canada, Canadian Federation of Independent Business;
- Elio Luongo, Canadian managing partner, KPMG;
- Fiona Macfarlane, managing partner, western Canada, Ernst & Young LLP; and
- Grace Wong, vice-president academic, UBC.
Dale Wall, a former deputy minister of the Ministry of Community and Rural Development, will act as an adjunct panel member.
“We need to support a globally competitive, diverse economy that supports jobs and innovation within the province's balanced budget framework,” Falcon said in the release.
The panel will consider how competitive B.C.’s tax environment is for business and develop recommendations about which taxes most influence competitiveness and economic growth.
It will also suggest ways that Victoria can address tax avoidance.The panel's recommendations must respect the province's balanced-budget framework, Falcon said. Its report will be submitted by August 31.
Glen Korstrom
@GlenKorstrom