We continue to get bombarded by various politicians, and others about how good the HST tax is for B.C. citizens. Problem is, the people who are supporting this tax, for the most part, are the people who will benefit from it. Pat Bell states that the tax will improve the position of B.C. resource-based industries in a highly-competitive world market. This is the same argument used when the Conservatives eliminated the 13.5 per cent manufacturing tax (MST) in 1991 and replaced it with the GST. Once the HST is in effect, industry in B.C. will have had a decrease in taxes of 13.5 per cent MST and seven per cent PST for a total of 20.5 per cent reduction in taxes. So I guess we can say that this is a good tax for industry. In addition, some business's and industry will benefit by the savings they will gain from eliminating the need to collect and pay the PST.
So if the government benefits from this tax through increased revenue, and business, and industry benefit from tax decreases, and cost savings, who pays? The consumer pays that's who. Average taxpayers will have their taxes increase anywhere from 500 to $1,500 per year, depending on your expenditures. The red herring in all this is that the government claims because of the savings to business, there will be a corresponding reduction in prices for consumers. This is pure malarkey because 90 per cent of what's manufactured in B.C. is exported out of the country, and therefore not consumed by B.C. residents.
Everyone should ensure they are on the voters list, and then when the anti-HST petition, launched by former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm and approved by the chief electoral officer, comes to Prince George we should ensure that we sign it.
Even if the petition fails, we should be prepared to vote against the Liberals in the next election, because they were less than honest in the last election, and slipped in this tax increase only after they were elected.
Someone once said that governments respond to pressure, and that it is the responsibility of the voters to apply the pressure. This is our opportunity, don't let it slip away.
Eric Allen
Prince George
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