" Let me assure you that I was kicked out of the room whenever discussions on contentious issues were being had," says Marc Andrew, a former political aide who was appointed to help the independent HST panel.
Memories are often not reliable. John Richards, a member of the B.C. government's HST panel, has a different recollection of Marc Andrew's involvement.
Mr. Richards recalls Mr. Andrew and two other consultants who had previously worked for the government - Peter Adams and Dan Perrin - were in the room on many occasions when panel members were having their discussions.
Mr. Richards did not remember anyone ever asking the consultants to leave. From time to time, Mr. Andrew would enter into conversations and make observations, Mr. Richards said.
But Mr. Andrew did not control the pen, Mr. Richards said. "It's quite legitimate. He could make observations about matters and we could decide whether or not to accept them," Mr. Richards said. "I don't personally think there was anything untoward here. He exercised no undue influence on how we wrote the report at all," Mr. Richards said.
How independent was the independent panel? Their report, issued on May 4, was well received. It provides a straightforward, balanced account of the benefits and drawbacks of the controversial tax, a reasonable guide as British Columbians decide this summer on how to vote in the HST referendum.
But reports this week of confidential contracts for consultants with links to the Liberal government raise questions about the panel's independence.
Four highly respected people served on the panel. The head of the panel was Jim Dinning, a former provincial treasurer in Alberta, a province with no sales tax. George Morfitt who had served for two terms as the provincial auditor, and Tracy Readies, president of Coast Capital Savings, a financial institution that will be worse off under HST than under the previous provincial tax, were also on the panel. The fourth member, Mr. Richards, is a professor in the school of public policy at Simon Fraser University and a former NDP member of the Saskatchewan legislature.
No one has suggested they would kowtow to the political dictates of the B.C. government.
However, hiring consultants linked to the government muddied the waters. Mr. Andrew had worked as a ministerial assistant to Colin Hansen, the former finance minister who brought in the HST. He had been hired on a three-month contract in November, 2010 to help the government's HST office develop a strategic plan. He was to assist in implementing a communication plan, maintain ties with various business and community groups and provide information to those groups about specific impacts of the HST.
Mr. Hansen announced the independent panel on Jan. 25. Two weeks later, Mr. Andrew's contract was extended to the end of May and he started working with the independent panel. Mr. Andrew's primary responsibility was logistics - ensuring a room and sandwiches were available for their meetings. Mr. Adams did economic modelling for the panel, running the numbers on how the HST would affect people in various income brackets. Mr. Perrin helped the panel with the intricate details of the HST and the previous provincial sales taxes. The panel clearly needed people with their expertise.
Mr. Dinning said the panel sought advice from Mr. Adams and Mr. Perrin while Mr. Andrew mostly helped organize the meetings. "We did not close the door on seeking advice from anyone," he also said.
But he felt that the panel's independence had not been compromised. "The four [panelists]… sat in the room at the very end, and often throughout the process, just the four of us, and we decided what the conclusions would be in that report. Nobody else," Mr. Dinning said.
The panelists feel they emerged with their independence in tact. The provincial government certainly did not treat them well by hiring consultants that could cast a shadow over their work.