The BC Chamber of Commerce is among the most vocal supporters of the provincial government's controversial Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), and this week, organization vice president Jon Garson appealed to local businesses to ensure the tax stays when it goes to referendum next year.
"The HST has now been in place since the 1st of July and the sky has not fallen," he told a roomful of Squamish Chamber of Commerce members and guests, including five District of Squamish council members, during a luncheon at the Brew Pub today (Oct. 19).
"On the 24th of September, tick the 'Keep the HST' box."
The BC Chamber of Commerce has a primary mandate of bringing the concerns of its members -representing 32,000 businesses - to the provincial and federal governments.
The organization acknowledges that the new taxation system hurts industries now having to add seven per cent to every bill,such as tourism and food services.
"We have been seen to abandon the members where there is a negative impact from HST," he said.
So the organization has been supporting associations trying to find ways to mitigate that impact.
"Our very, very public support of the HST has built us some capital with the government and where they [the hurting industries] have approached us and asked us for help, we've given that help straight away," said Garson.
He also acknowledged the "aggressive nature" of consumption taxes, saying "those on lower or fixed income spend a far higher degree of their disposable income."
But that has been nullified to a large degree by tax credits, he said.
Garson called a "good tax" an oxymoron, however the alternative - the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) -was an inefficient system with seemingly arbitrary exemptions on 20 per cent of all goods and services in B.C.
"Everything from bicycles, hybrid cars, haircuts - why should haircuts be PST exempt?" he said. "The issue for us is we can't see their logic in that exemption."
In 2002 the notion of harmonizing the Provincial Sales tax (PST) and Goods and Services Tax (GST) was endorsed by the BC Chamber membership, and beginning in 2005, it has been unanimously supported by the organization's delegates at every annual general meeting.
"We were the first organization out of the gates to say 'This is the right thing to do for the economy, this is good for business."
But enthusiasm among chambers province wide waned.
"We turned around and expected the membership to be behind us and found we were pretty much standing isolated [with members saying] 'What on Earth are you talking about?'" said Garson to laughter in the crowd.
That was because the B.C. Liberal government "absolutely messed this up," said Garson, by introducing the tax mere months after winning an election with suggestions the HST wouldn't be adopted.
"We've actually found ourselves having to chase the issue and become the public defender of HST."
And so began the BC Chamber's "quest for you as business people to actually have a dialogue about the tax itself, not about the way it was introduced, not about whatever your opinion is of Gordon Campbell," he said.
The business sector should support the HST for its positive impact on the provincial economy, he said, evidence of which can be seen with Washington Marine Groups recent decision to increase its Sea Span offshore presence by three tugboats rather than the two they'd planned before reaping the savings from the new system.
"And we think those stories will just continue to come," he said.
Garson also warned the film, mining and tech industries would "fly" to B.C.'s "primary competitor," Ontario, should the HST be repealed.
"We can't stress strongly enough how damaging that would be for us as a province."
Garson acknowledged Squamish Coun. Paul Lalli's concern over the province's inability to reduce sales tax once the HST becomes legislated.
"There's no such thing as a good tax, but the cleanest and most efficient form of taxation is consumption tax," said Garson.
"But one of the compromises you make is yes, the province has just given up the right to make tax changes in that regard."
