Dear editor,
The referendum ballots are 'in the mail.'
I have seen some but have yet to receive my own. Not to worry: we all have time to reflect on the implications of the YES or NO vote and, more importantly, what we actually are voting for or against.
I will vote YES to scrap the HST and revert to the previous GST+PST for three reasons.
1. What we are being asked to vote on is the current system of a 12 per cent HST. The ballot does not contemplate any fairyland promises to reduce the HST to 11 per cent and then 10 per cent during the next three years. Christy Clark may not be in office when the first 'promised' reduction can occur in 2012 and must face the electorate before the second 'promised' reduction in 2014.
2. Supporters of the HST, our own MLA among them, claim that it is a vast improvement on the old PST system in that it reduces the onerous tax burden on industry and thus will lead to reduced prices for consumers and ultimately to job creation.
Never during my 37 years in B.C., did I hear a squeak about the old PST system being such a drag on industry from governments of whatever political stripe. It simply was the the $1.6-billion buy-in carrot that brought the matter to the fore.
3. Should the NO vote prevail, I do not trust the B.C. Liberals to follow through on their two-point promised reduction in the HST even if they are in power at the times they say they will do it.
B.C. tax policy belongs in B.C. and the next B.C. government will have the task of reforming the PST so that it creates a more equitable system for all players in the B.C. economic chain.
Frank Burden,
Comox