[quote=“Smurfette”]
All governments require taxation to develop their programs and operate those services which we seem to want, but somehow don’t actually feel the need to pay for. While the HST was probably not the smoothest plan ever put in place by a government (obviously considering the outcome of the vote) the bottom line is, that the province needs money to operate and without the HST (and with the need to now pay back our advance so to speak) there will be less to go around than even before.
As much as I dislike taxation, I do understand the need for it and only wish that the process was better utilized to reflect our requirements, but when you need the money, you need the money, otherwise the only alternative is to cut, cut and cut.
I’m still not sure folks completely get that concept, and when they demand the government fix education, fix health care etc, etc, etc, how exactly is that going to take place?[/quote]
I agree that taxation is needed to fund the programs and infrastructure we want. I have never complained about being taxed.
I agree that taxation policy by referendum is dumb. I hope we never have to go through this process again. But that means governments need to be more honest about their intentions. In a radio interview Vander Zalm made the point that the public can be very forgiving of a government that does not do something they promised. We understand that election promises are wish lists of things we would like to see and if all are not done, we get that. However, when a government says it is not going to do something and then goes ahead and does it anyway, the knifes come out. And so they should.
And with this government who rode to power on the promise of not selling BCRail and not ripping up contracts and then got re-elected with the promise that the HST was not in their plans, most of the public got fed up.
As for the tax itself, I have read a lot of information on the topic and whether it is a progressive or regressive tax makes interesting reading. I like to think of myself as relatively intelligent and especially willing to see both sides of an issue, and I have to admit that I am not 100% convinced by either argument. That’s why taxation policy should not be a referendum issue.
What I don’t like is the fearmongering by proponents of the tax. We already have Falcon saying that cuts will have to occur and that the losss of the HST will blow a $3B hole in the budget.
But this tax was brought in with the promise that it would be revenue neutral. It was not a tax grab, just a $2B a year tax shift from corporations to consumers. Now whether that is good or bad is another interesting topic and probably another reason why tax policy should not be a referendum issue. But if the government is to be believed, we will be going back to a taxation system that brought in the same amount of money that the HST wouldl bring in. No cuts should occur.
In an ideal world, the Liberals should call an election. (In a sense, they lost a confidence vote.) They are still convinced that the HST is the best tax for BC. They took an unpopular tax (85% opposed at the beginning) to one that now has 45% of the people supporting it. Campaign on the HST and other policies. Force the NDP to come up with its own tax policy.
Let the people decide which party they trust the most to do the best for the province.
