TAX NEWS - JUNE 2010

Canada Tax: Campbell vows to spend summer selling unpopular tax

03 June 2010 -- Premier Gordon Campbell says he's leaving the legislature for the summer barbecue trail where he expects the controversial harmonized sales tax to dominate the political menu.

Campbell says he has no plans to avoid the harmonized sales tax (HST) this summer despite the uproar over the tax that has seen a drop in his personal popularity and that of his three-term Liberal government.

Campbell is also refusing to comment on speculation he is planning to retire from politics after NDP Leader Carole James's prediction that he won't be around to fight the 2013 election.

Campbell says he believes the harmonized sales tax (HST) is one of the most important initiatives of the 21st century in B.C. and he's convinced it will create thousands of new jobs.

Hundreds of thousands of British Columbians have joined a grassroots campaign led by former premier Bill Vander Zalm to sign a petition that seeks to repeal the harmonized sales tax law.

B.C. politicians are leaving the legislature after a four-month session that saw the introduction of a $1.7-billion deficit budget, the law leading to the harmonized sales tax (HST) and a new Clean Energy Act.