With the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) mail-in referendum in full swing, the horns of the two opposing sides in the issue remain locked.

On one side is the ruling Liberal Party, actively pushing for the establishment of the HST and on the other is the official opposition NDP, pleading with the public to help them kill it.

And here in the East Kootenay, a region featuring two provincial ridings, the division between the sides is represented by East Kootenay MLA Bill Bennett (Liberal) and Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Norm Macdonald (NDP).

Both MLAs presented East Kootenay News Online Weekly (e-KNOW) with their latest views on the HST.

Macdonald opened with a June 30 press release that stated tourism communities in the region and province would suffer under the HST.

“The Harmonized Sales Tax won’t be just transferring tax burden away from corporations on to individuals, it has also resulted in the cancellation of a key funding stream to Resort Municipalities, ” Macdonald stated.

“The hasty announcement in 2009 by the B.C. Liberals that they were breaking their election promise not to implement the HST resulted in a series of unintended consequences including the termination of the Hotel Room Tax that funded both the now dismantled Tourism BC and Resort Municipality funding that resort communities in the Kootenays have come to depend on,” he explained.

“For communities in my area, the implementation of the HST has had even wider consequences. The cancellation of the Hotel Room Tax and the funding that flowed to resort communities from that tax will make it even more difficult for resort communities to provide the tourism infrastructure that is needed,” said Macdonald.

Bennett told e-KN OW that Macdonald and the NDP are playing “pure politics.

“The two programs in question (additional Hotel Room Tax program and Resort Municipality Tax Transfer program) were discussed in the House, publicly by various ministers, including me, and the government committed to continuing the programs. Both programs continue to be funded by grants. For Norm to insinuate that somehow government is cutting the programs is really a stretch. And for him to suggest that a grant is somehow less certain than the former manner of funding is silly. Government can and does change programs on a regular basis,” Bennett said.

“The (Macdonald’s) news release is, to put it as generously as I can, disingenuous. HST was announced two years ago and implemented a year ago,” he said.

Macdonald said he’s from elected officials in his riding and they’re not happy.

“Local governments in my area are telling me that this is a real blow. While the previous Hotel Room Tax system provided a clear revenue stream, the grant program that replaced it is still a broken promise to resort communities.

“As a former mayor, I understand the challenge that communities face.  With property tax as the only source of municipal revenue, the consistent funding that was supposed to arrive with the Hotel Room Tax was a welcome improvement.

“But the implementation of the HST changed all that. Local resort communities that signed agreements with the province for Hotel Room Tax revenue have been left in the lurch,” he said, noting that the only recourse for communities to access provincial funds is going back to seeking grants for projects.

“The HST is detrimental for the communities in my area.  That is why I’m voting Yes to scrap the HST.”

Bennett stated the Liberals continue to support the programs “and so continues to fund them. The NDP are opposed to the HST (although they will not get rid of it if they are ever government). I understand that this a political issue they feel they can exploit. But to BS the public like this, to try to generate fear when they know the two programs are being funded and to blame it on the HST, is a transparent attempt to further undermine public confidence in the HST. It has zero to do with the future of tourism in our region or the real families who depend on the tourism industry,” he concluded.

Elections BC is administering the mail-in ballot HST Referendum, running from June 13 – August 5.  The deadline to request an HST Referendum Voting Package is midnight (local time) Friday, July 22.

In related news, an HST review panel, led by former Alberta treasurer Jim Dinning and former B.C. auditor-general George Morfitt, has warned that if B.C. voters lean heavy on the ‘Yes’ side of extinguishing the HST, there will be no easy over-night transition.

It would take between a year and half and two years to revert back to the Provincial Sales Tax and Goods and Services Tax, the panel pointed out. In addition, it notes that B.C. could stand to lose $1.2 billion with the province returning to the two tax system.

“Our consensus is the HST will be a net benefit to the economy,” the panel stated, adding that benefits from the harmonized tax won’t happen “overnight,” as well.

In addition, should B.C. voters kibosh the HST, the province will be forced to pay back $1.6 billion in federal funding aimed at supporting harmonization.

Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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