The President of the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce says the BC Liberal’s proposed cut to the provincial sales tax should help businesses in the city weather the effect of COVID-19 a little bit.

“I think at this point anything helps because you know when you are running a business every little bit, every cent, every dollar matters at the end of the day,” Tyson Andrykew said.

Speaking on the NL Morning News, he went on to call the proposal by Andrew Wilkinson to eliminate the PST in the first year if his party is elected on Oct. 24 an ‘interesting one’.

“We at the Chamber certainly want to dig into a little bit more to figure out the economics behind it and see what the real impact is,” Andrykew added. “It does seem like its going to cause a significant revenue shortage for the provincial government.”

According to the BC Liberals, the PST will return at three per cent in the second year for as long as is required until the economy improves, before returning to the current seven per cent. Wilkinson says cutting the tax will help stimulate the economy as it recovers from the effects of COVID-19.

They estimate it to cost about $7 billion in the first year and about $4 billion annually for each year at the reduced tax level.

“We often don’t advocate for [revenue shortages] either so we always have to strike a balance there,” noted Andrykew.

If implemented, the proposal will have major implications for the B.C. budget, which is already projected to have a $12.5 billion deficit this year as after personal income taxes, the PST is the largest source of revenue.

NDP Leader John Horgan says he hasn’t seen an assessment of the impact the proposed cut will have on provincial revenues, but he wants the Liberals to come clean to voters about what services would be cut to cover the cost.

Green Leader Sonia Furstenau also criticized Wilkinson’s proposal, describing it as ‘antiquated’, noting people need economic security to help the province recover from COVID-19.