HST may be 'improved' before B.C. vote

The B.C. government is dangling a carrot to British Columbians ahead of the June referendum on the HST, suggesting it's willing to "improve" the controversial tax before the vote.

Three members of the B.C. Liberal cabinet unveiled a $1.7 million funding package on Thursday to spur the discussions, but critics charge the new ground rules are skewed in favour of keeping the unpopular tax.

Flanked by the finance minister and minister who had resigned from caucus over lack of public consultation last year, Attorney General Barry Penner announced the government will provide half a million dollars to be split equally to fund the Yes and No sides of an information campaign.

Another half a million dollars will fund several forums at universities about the tax, and the government will spend $700,000 more to create a mail-out Voter's Guide that outlines both sides of the debate and includes findings from an independent panel asked to look into the HST.

'This isn't the way you deal with public policy.' Bill Tieleman of Fight HST

Stephen Owen, a former B.C. ombudsman, has been appointed as an independent funding decision-maker, but otherwise no formal spending limits will be imposed. His job will be to decide who should get public money for their campaigns and to administer the public forums.

"Are we looking at making changes to engender more public support for HST? Absolutely," said Finance Minister Kevin Falcon, explaining that he and Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom will embark next week on a three-week "Talking Taxes" tour to get a better sense of what the public wants.

He said if it means changing the terms of the tax, potentially in the form of more provincial rebates or dropping the tax rate by a couple points, that would be seriously considered.

"The government is committed to a position of improving the HST prior to the vote being made on June the 24th," he said, repeatedly adding that changes would still have to jive with balancing the budget.

Opponents cry foul

Reaction was unequivocal from members of the Fight HST campaign, whose members including former premier Bill Vander Zalm spent months leveraging public anger to gather more than 500,000 signatures on a petition that prompted the referendum to repeal the tax.

Organizer Bill Tieleman called the plan "biased and unfair," arguing that opponents of the tax, which he called a grassroots campaign, will get no more than $250,000 in government money to publicize their side.

Meanwhile, he said government can spend whatever it wants and big business has the ability to spend millions if it chooses.

In fact, there is no spending limit for anyone who wants to get a message out.

Tieleman said nothing can make the tax palatable at this stage.

"For them to now say they're going to actually make some changes and consult people, the horse left the barn, it's already down around Saskatchewan by now. This isn't the way you deal with public policy."

Tieleman said Fight HST also plans to "reactivate" its network of 7,000 volunteer canvassers to reinvigorate its side of the debate ahead of the referendum, while Vander Zalm, Tieleman and organizer Chris Delaney will tour to continue the campaign during the vote period.

Proponents of the tax will likely apply for some the funding and participate in the debates to be held at colleges and universities in the weeks after Falcon's telephone town halls, said Jock Finlayson, a vice-president of the Business Council of B.C.

"As an organization that supports the HST, we are open-minded about potential changes to some of the parameters of the tax, including the tax rate as well as the exemptions and what the tax base might look like," he said.

Falcon noted the government continues to admit it did a terrible job introducing the tax to British Columbians, and while cabinet still strongly supports the tax, it's up to the public to make the final decision.

The referendum will be conducted by mail. Ballots are expected to arrive at voters' homes in June, with the deadline for submittingset atJuly 22, andthe final results announced in August.