The provincial government is launching a public engagement process “to consider options to improve the HST.”
“Over the next three weeks we want to hear from British Columbians about fiscally reasonable policy options available to improve the HST,” Deputy Premier and Finance Minster Kevin Falcon said in a news release.
“While it is clear to everyone the implementation of the HST was poorly undertaken, this engagement will assist in helping us to better understand what changes could be made to improve the HST.”
The “Talking Taxes” engagement process – announced yesterday by Falcon and Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Blair Lekstrom – will include regionally-conducted tele-town halls throughout the province, stakeholder meetings, and online interactivity.
Talking Taxes events begin next week; further details will be released then.
A Ministry of Finance spokesman confirmed the cost of the engagement process is not yet known, but that it will be made public when it is.
A provincewide referendum on whether to scrap the HST is scheduled to be held June 24.
The provincial government has also announced it’s spending $1.7 million on the HST referendum public engagement, including $250,000 for both the “yes” and “no” sides, a public dialogues fund of $500,000 to hold public discussions at post-secondary institutions and $700,000 to create a voter’s guide, to be sent to every home in B.C.
The guide will include statements provided directly from the main “yes” and “no” groups, as well as a summary of the independent panel report on the HST.