Business Leaders Congratulate Premier Gordon Campbell for Strengthening British Columbia’s Competitiveness

July 24, 2009

British Columbia’s decision to harmonize its provincial sales tax (PST) with the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) is absolutely the right strategy for these difficult times and will help to create new jobs as Canada emerges from recession, says Thomas d’Aquino, Chief Executive and President of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE).

“Canada’s business leaders congratulate Premier Gordon Campbell for his leadership and vision,” Mr. d’Aquino said.  “In a single, bold stroke, his government will strengthen British Columbia’s competitiveness, attract new investment and improve employment opportunities for workers throughout the province.”

The CCCE has been a strong advocate of sales tax harmonization since the GST went into effect in 1991.  The conversion of a traditional retail sales tax to a value-added tax benefits the economy by encouraging companies to invest in new equipment, by lowering the costs of business inputs, and by reducing the cost of compliance and administration. Those benefits in turn result in lower prices and higher incomes for consumers.

Earlier this year, Ontario’s government announced that it intends to harmonize its PST with the GST following the example of previous reforms by Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Quebec.  With Ontario and British Columbia now committed to harmonizing their sales taxes on July 1, 2010, only Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island will be left with traditional retail sales taxes that harm business competitiveness.

“The impact of sales tax reform on business competitiveness is huge,” Mr. d’Aquino said. “In combination with recently announced reductions in statutory corporate tax rates at the federal and provincial level, these moves by British Columbia and Ontario will help to transform Canada into one of the most attractive jurisdictions for new business investment in the industrialized world.”

The CCCE is a not-for-profit and non-partisan organization composed of 150 chief executives and entrepreneurs heading Canada’s leading enterprises.  CCCE members lead companies that collectively administer $4.5 trillion in assets and have annual revenues of more than $850 billion.  They have a combined Canadian stock market value of $675 billion, spend more than $3 billion a year on research and development, and are responsible for most of Canada’s private-sector exports, investment and training.

In addition to Messrs. Nixon, George and d’Aquino, CCCE’s Executive Committee includes Vice Chairs Laurent Beaudoin, Chairman, Bombardier Inc.; Paul Desmarais, Jr., Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Power Corporation of Canada; J. Bruce Flatt, Senior Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Brookfield Asset Management Inc.; Hartley T. Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer, James Richardson & Sons Limited; and Annette Verschuren, President, The Home Depot Canada and Asia.