Published Articles
Budgetary Mitigation Efforts for HST (in Business Examiner)
October 26, 2009
It has now been three months since the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) was first announced. Since then, the chambers of commerce and industry specific organizations have been busy determining in what way HST will affect their businesses.
The challenge for each industry is to determine effective ways to mitigate the impacts without requesting exemptions from the HST legislation itself. That is because HST is a federal tax that both British Columbia and Ontario have opted into, which allows only a limited level of exemptions from the tax. In British Columbia, that level has been reached through the continued exemptions of certain products and fuel exemptions.
The Greater Victoria Chamber has been working with industry partners and the areas that we have identified as needing specific attention include the marked increase to the cost of new homes, tourism, and increased cost pressures on BC Ferry fares.
In a recent presentation to the provincial Select Standing Committee on Finance we were able to present recommendations on each one of those issues. While most of the recommendations will not completely neutralize the effects of HST, if exercised, they will certainly lessen the impact in areas that are of significant concern to our local and provincial economy.
The HST impact on new housing will be a significant increase in costs and could reduce the demand for new homes. This reduced demand has potential to be a catalyst for employment reductions in the new home construction sector. Regulator changes to mitigate that impact of HST are clearly warranted. In particular the following have value: a change in the rebate threshold, reduction in the Property Transfer Tax, or the removal of the land portion of value for the HST calculation.
Also, as Islanders we know that our economy is greatly affected by the cost of our ferry service. Given that there will be an upwards pressure on ferry fees due to HST, we have posited that the provincial subsidy to BC Ferries should be increased to counteract that pressure.
For tourism we have recommended a delay in the dates that tourism operators are required to self assess their HST and an increase in the small business threshold from $10 million to $50 million. We continue to work with our partners including Tourism Victoria and the Council of Tourism Association to identify measures to assist the tourism sector.
There are a number of measures the provincial government can take within its own tax policies that will assist in the transition to HST. We look forward to the spring budget to find how those concerns have been addressed.
Articles - 2010
Borrowing for the Bridge Our Best Option (in September Business Examiner) (August 30, 2010)
ADS is Positive for BC Tourism (in Business Vancouver Island) (August 11, 2010)
Regional Issues Require Regional Decision Making (in Business Examiner) (July 28, 2010)
Task Force Only a First Step (in Business Vancouver Island) (July 07, 2010)
Paying for the Bridge (in Business Examiner) (June 30, 2010)
Shoulder to Shoulder with Tourism (in Business Vancouver Island) (June 17, 2010)
What is the Cost of Not Building the Marina? (in Business Examiner) (June 01, 2010)
Business Vote is Complicated (in Business Vancouver Island) (May 17, 2010)
Keep an Eye on Tax Spending (in Business Vancouver Island) (April 08, 2010)
Calling for Police Amalgamation (in Business Examiner) (March 24, 2010)
Health, Police Connected (in Business Vancouver Island) (March 11, 2010)
Tourism Benefits of the Games Needing Our Support (in Business Examiner) (March 01, 2010)
Listen to the Tax Canary (in Business Vancovuer Island) (February 15, 2010)
Education and Sewage (in Times Colonist and Blackpress, Letters) (January 29, 2010)
Bay Street Bridge Closure a Wake Up Call (in Business Examiner) (January 27, 2010)
Improving Province's Productivity (in Business Vancouver Island) (January 15, 2010)
Stable Funding for Tourism an Urgent Need (in Business Examiner) (January 04, 2010)
Articles - 2009 
Municipalities Need to Tighten their Belts (December 10, 2009)
What About the Displaced Traffic? (in Business Examiner) (November 27, 2009)
The Local TV/Cable Battle (in Business Vancouver Island) (November 12, 2009)
Budgetary Mitigation Efforts for HST (in Business Examiner) (October 26, 2009)
Why we are Canada's Best Place to Live (in Outlook 2010 in the Times Colonist) (October 17, 2009)
Carving a Place on the Canadian Stage (in Business Vancouver Island) (October 07, 2009)
Budget Deficits and Health of the Community (in Business Examiner) (September 30, 2009)
Keeping the Lens on Crime and Public Safety (in Business Vancouver Island) (September 18, 2009)
HST from Three Perspectives (in Business Examiner) (August 28, 2009)
The Ups and Downs of Tourism (in Business Vancouver Island) (August 10, 2009)
Bar Watch Program Shows Results (August 06, 2009)
Experience Vancouver Island (in Business Vancouver Island) (July 08, 2009)
Dealing with Downtown Drunkeness (in Business Examiner) (July 06, 2009)
TV Playing Field Must be Even too (in Business Vancouver Island) (June 15, 2009)
Get Prolific Offenders Off the Street (in Business Examiner) (June 04, 2009)
Mico-firms in Need of Capital Too (in Business Vancouver Island) (May 11, 2009)
Small Business Realities on Raising Minimum Wage (in Business Examiner) (May 04, 2009)
Letter to the Editor - Johnson St. Bridge (April 22, 2009)
Changes Needed for Film Biz (in Business Vancouver Island) (April 08, 2009)
Keeping Tax Increases Sustainable (in Business Examiner) (April 06, 2009)
Keeping Cities Affordable (in Business Vancouver Island) (March 13, 2009)
Preserving Heritage at What Cost? (in Business Examiner) (March 02, 2009)
Deficit Budgets - Good? (in Business Vancouver Island) (February 11, 2009)
Getting Organized for Budget Investments (in Business Examiner) (January 19, 2009)
The 2009 Budget Slalom (in Business Vancouver Island) (January 11, 2009)
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