VICTORIA -Nearly 33,000 British Columbians participated in the first two HST telephone town hall meetings in the Surrey and Peace River regions.

The tele-town hall meetings are designed to provide thousands of British Columbians with the opportunity to participate in open discussions about the HST with Minister of Finance Kevin Falcon and Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Blair Lekstrom. Participants have an opportunity to ask questions about the HST and offer suggestions on how it can be improved.

Anyone who is unable to leave a message on the call can also go to our website to leave feedback at: www.HSTinBC.ca

Quick Facts:

• Government is hosting 12 tele-town halls across the province.
• The cost of the tele-town halls will be up to $200,000.
• Government is also providing $1.7 million in funding to ensure a well-informed public dialogue on the HST. Under the plan government will:
• Provide a total of $500,000 for the 'yes' and 'no' sides, subject to conditions on the appropriate use of public funding and accountability for spending.
• Create a Public Dialogues Fund of $500,000 for the province's public universities, colleges and institutes to hold informative public dialogues.
• Produce and send a comprehensive Voter's Guide to every home in British Columbia with information on the referendum including: statements provided directly by the main 'Yes' and 'No' groups, a summary of the Independent Panel on the HST and PST/GST report, and other information to help inform voters about the referendum ballot. The value of this guide is approximately $700 thousand.

Contact:

Matt Gordon
Communications Director
Ministry of Finance
250 896-4923