Gordon Campbell’s wishes to see the HST implemented in British Columbia could stand or fall on the whims of Michael Ignatieff and the Federal Liberal party and with it much of his financial planning of the last six months .
The Federal Conservative government is about to turn the heat up on the opposition in Ottawa next week, that’s when the Harper government introduces its framework legislation to introduce the controversial tax in both Ontario and British Columbia…
HST really should be a viewed as a provincial issue. The feds will collect the same tax as they do under GST. The problem really isn’t HST, it’s that the province will collect tax on more goods and services than has been the case under PST.
The province is free to rebate the provincial portion of HST at point of sale and will be doing that for a few items - the feds have no objection - but the list is a lot shorter than the PST exemption list. We have focused on HST when we should be focusing on what qualifies for provincial rebates.
I don’t know if Gordo stage managed that or if the highest profile opponents - strange bedfellows to say the least - just muddled the issues. Either way, the spotlight shifts from Gordo to federal politicians, including Iggy of all people, who have no say whatsoever over what Gordo chooses to rebate or keep.