In BC after the last election, the government imposed a new tax which combined a provincial and a federal tax, and gave away the right of the province to set some of its own tax policy. Voters were very angry and the Premier of the province was forced to resign and a vote was scheduled for Sept 2011to see if we wanted to retain the tax. Taxes and Politicians are an issue all over the world so this issue is not unique to BC. However, having been away from the Province for six weeks I was surprised when I came back to find that the referendum on the HST had been moved up from September to June. I am not sure how the law was changed, but the vote date has been set. I am against the HST as I think it is a regressive tax, that hurts the poorest amongst us, and one that has not brought about any new jobs and the changes the government had promised.
The idea of a mail in vote is interesting and I when I was talking with some supporters of this tax they are very excited about the way the vote is being conducted. As they said to me there is a silent group of about 35% of people out there that support the tax but these people would not get out and vote so the mail in ballot will allow them to vote. They also suggested that the anti-HST vote, would not be able to get out there people to vote, so they will win.
The other issue they talked about was that the system would come crashing down around us if we were forced to move back to the old system of taxation, and that this would hurt the all ready fragile recovery. I shook my head, and thought why are you using scare tactics to gain support. The system will not fall apart, the consumer will be better off in the short and long run, if the HST is defeated and business will adjust if the government will allow time for that to happen.
I also want people to remember that the Liberals in BC brought in the tax, but the Federal Conservatives with the support of the Federal Liberals, voted for the imposition of this tax on the people of BC, and when you vote in the Federal election you need to bear this fact in mind.
The idea of a mail in vote is interesting and I when I was talking with some supporters of this tax they are very excited about the way the vote is being conducted. As they said to me there is a silent group of about 35% of people out there that support the tax but these people would not get out and vote so the mail in ballot will allow them to vote. They also suggested that the anti-HST vote, would not be able to get out there people to vote, so they will win.
The other issue they talked about was that the system would come crashing down around us if we were forced to move back to the old system of taxation, and that this would hurt the all ready fragile recovery. I shook my head, and thought why are you using scare tactics to gain support. The system will not fall apart, the consumer will be better off in the short and long run, if the HST is defeated and business will adjust if the government will allow time for that to happen.
I also want people to remember that the Liberals in BC brought in the tax, but the Federal Conservatives with the support of the Federal Liberals, voted for the imposition of this tax on the people of BC, and when you vote in the Federal election you need to bear this fact in mind.
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