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Public Engagement
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Public Engagement

Over the last two months the Government of B.C. set up an unprecedented and wide-ranging public consultation and engagement process around the HST.

Tele-town halls and online consultation let over a quarter million British Columbians from all parts of the province have their say in how the HST could be fixed.

Telephone Town Halls

More than a quarter million British Columbians participated in 11 HST telephone-town hall meetings in communities across the province in the last three weeks.

Of the 417,464 British Columbians who answered the tele-town hall calls – 66 per cent – or 276,504 people, participated in the calls and stayed on the phone for almost 17 minutes on average. The tele-town halls were hosted by Minister of Finance Kevin Falcon, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Blair Lekstrom and Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Pat Bell.

Households Dialled Live Answer Total Attendees Average time on Call Participation Rate Summary Transcript
Peace River 22,224 9,897 5,878 21 59% Summary Transcript
Surrey 135,277 54,138 26,935 16 50% Summary Transcript
Kootenays 63,659 28,171 17,316 16 61% Summary Transcript
Suburban Vancouver
(Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody) 		142,292 50,403 38,522 15 76% Summary Transcript
Interior and North Coast 128,452 35,294 23,539 19 67% Summary Transcript
Okanagan 143,915 44,747 30,882 17 69% Summary Transcript
Fraser Valley 144,771 31,622 24,108 19 76% Summary Transcript
Mid Island/North Island/South Coast 162,657 39,109 24,624 19 63% Summary Transcript
Richmond/South Delta/North Shore 147,754 45,713 28,845 12 63% Summary Transcript
Victoria 134,873 25,431 16,897 15 66% Summary Transcript
Vancouver 188,287 52,939 38,958 14 74% Summary Transcript
Totals: 1,414,161 417,464 276,504 16.6 66%

 

Online Survey

The HST Feedback survey is now closed. Although not scientific the survey was designed to provide British Columbians with an opportunity to provide feedback directly to government on the HST and over 5,100 responses were collected. Thank you to everyone for your feedback and suggestions.

Survey Results

5,157 Responses to the Survey.

Question1: If voters opt to remain with the HST, government should still take measures to improve the HST?

7% No

93% Yes

4,806 of 5,157 Answered this question.

Question2: If government considers changes to the HST, please rate each policy option on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being not an improvement, and 5 being significant improvement to the HST.

Question 2a:
Rebate the provincial part of the HST on items that many families purchase for healthy lifestyles like bikes, bike helmets, and recreational services like fitness/gym memberships and other activity fees. This would reduce government revenues by up to about $150 million.

Scale:
1 is no improvement (15%) – 5 is significant improvement(41%)

4,890 of 5,157 Answered this question



Question 2b:
Make it more affordable for British Columbians to buy a home by reducing taxes on home purchases.

Scale:
1 is no improvement (9%) – 5 is significant improvement (54%)

4,935 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 2c:
Increase the BC HST credit cheques for lower income British Columbians. An increase of $100 per person, from $230 to $330, would cost $130 million.

Scale:
1 is no improvement (23%) – 5 is significant improvement (26%)

3,668 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 2d:
Provide an annual rebate to families in order to help offset HST costs for children? A rebate of $250 per child would cost $210 million.

Scale:
1 is no improvement (21%) – 5 is significant improvement (25%)

3,610 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 2e:
Reduce the HST by 1% to 11% [by reducing provincial part of HST from 7% to 6%] and move more slowly on deficit reduction and slow investment in government services like health care and education. Note that a 1% decrease in the HST is $850 million cost.

Scale:
1 is no improvement (23%) – 5 is significant improvement (34%)

3,558 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 2f:
Keep the HST unchanged and use any additional revenues towards improving government services such as health care and education and balancing the budget.

Scale:
1 is no improvement (38%) – 5 is significant improvement (17%)

3,513 of 5,157 Answered this question

Question 3

Participants were invited to leave a comment.

Question 4

The HST does create additional costs for consumers, which are reduced or eliminated for the 1.1 million lower income British Columbians that receive the BC HST credit. If the BC Government were to provide additional assistance directly to British Columbians, how important do you feel it is that government addresses the additional HST tax being paid by the following groups:

Question 4a:
Low income single/couple British Columbians

Scale:
1 is not important (14%) – 5 is very important (34%)

4,840 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 4b:
Low income seniors

Scale:
1 is not important (9%) – 5 is very important (49%)

4,871 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 4c:
Low income families with children

Scale:
1 is not important (10%) – 5 is very important (46%)

4,331 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 4d:
Low income young British Columians

Scale:
1 is not important (18%) – 5 is very important (27%)

4,285 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 4e:
Families regardless of income

Scale:
1 is not important (24%) – 5 is very important (21%)

4,238 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 4f:
Seniors regardless of income

Scale:
1 is not important (25%) – 5 is very important (21%)

4,209 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 4g:
Individuals/Couples, regardless of income

Scale:
1 is not important (30%) – 5 is very important (18%)

4,205 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 4h:
Everyone

Scale:
1 is not important (23%) – 5 is very important (25%)

4,205of 5,157 Answered this question

Question 5

The net negative impact to the provincial budget of returning to the PST+GST is hundreds of millions of dollars. If the province returns to the PST, on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being a very bad idea and 5 being a very good idea, how would you rate the following options make up this revenue difference?

Question 5a:
Increase the PST rate

Scale:
1 is a 'very bad idea' (66%) – 5 is 'a very good idea'(6%)

3,688 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 5b:
Raise personal income taxes

Scale:
1 is a 'very bad idea' (63%) – 5 is 'a very good idea'(4%)

3,725 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 5c:
Raise corporate income taxes

Scale:
1 is a 'very bad idea' (22%) – 5 is 'a very good idea'(33%)

3,529 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 5d:
Run larger deficits

Scale:
1 is a 'very bad idea' (55%) – 5 is 'a very good idea'(2%)

3,472 of 5,157 Answered this question


Question 5e:
Cut government spending

Scale:
1 is a 'very bad idea' (13%) – 5 is 'a very good idea'(35%)

4,430 of 5,157 Answered this question