The battle lines over what promises to be a summer-long fight over the harmonized sales tax were being drawn across British Columbia Wednesday, with politicians taking pot shots at each other hours before the start of a series of public town hall meetings.

The politicians wasted little time in firing up the HST debate, making the tax the first subject of attack in the legislature, which resumed sitting Wednesday.

Finance Minister Kevin Falcon defended the $1.7 million the government has allotted to fund the Yes and No sides in the province-wide HST mail-in referendum, which runs through June and July with the result expected in August.

Falcon said the government will mount information campaigns supporting the HST, which is the preferred method of taxation in more than 130 democratic jurisdictions.

"We are in fact going to ensure there is a fulsome, informed debate about the HST," he said in the legislature.

Falcon also said the Liberals could be justly criticized for not adequately informing British Columbians about the HST when it was first introduced in July 2009.

"This is an important choice for British Columbians, and I will happily -- I will happily -- engage in the debate with the leader of the Opposition about whether the HST is the right way to go," he said.

"The leader of the Opposition's preferred choice is to go back to the provincial sales tax of British Columbia," said Falcon. "Bring on the debate, Mr. Leader of the Opposition."

Dix said the government has given itself a slush fund to sell the HST to British Columbians, but he predicted voters will dump the tax.

"The people of British Columbia know that they were misled in the last (provincial) election campaign," he said. "British Columbians know this is a $2 billion tax shift onto them and they are going to defeat the HST."

The highly charged political debate in the legislature occurred hours before the start of a series of government telephone town-hall meetings seeking public input on possible changes to the HST.

Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom and Falcon were set to be on hand to answer calls from people from Surrey and the Peace River area communities of Dawson Creek and Ft. St. John.

Falcon said the government is looking for suggestions about the HST, which became law in July 2010, but has been the subject of political uproar since July 2009 when the Liberals announced the tax less than three months after winning their third consecutive B.C. election.

The HST combines the five per cent federal Goods and Services Tax with the former seven per cent B.C. provincial sales tax for a 12 per cent tax.

The government says the HST is a value-added tax that will spur investment and create jobs. HST opponents say the HST shifts $2 billion of taxes to consumers from business.

"We're trying to see if there's a way we can listen to British Columbians and find a way to improve what at the end of the day virtually any independent economist or others will tell you is the best public tax policy, which is a harmonized sales tax or a value-added tax," said Falcon.

Fight HST, the anti-HST group headed by former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm, said Wednesday it will submit its application for government funds to finance the anti-tax side of the upcoming referendum.

Spokesman Chris Delaney said Fight HST believes it should receive all of a possible $250,000 in government funds available to those battling the levy.

Fight HST launched a successful drive last spring that saw more than 500,000 British Columbians sign a petition calling for the repeal of the HST, forcing the government to call a referendum, which will be held in June and July with the results expected in August.

A second town hall phone-in is set for B.C.'s Kootenay, Richmond, South Delta and North Shore regions on Thursday night, although sessions could be postponed if they conflict with Vancouver Canucks playoff dates.