BC HST defeat "A Canadian Tea Party victory"

Brian Lilley:

The BC HST is gone

Good outcome!  I don't know if the HST is an economically superior taxation system or not.  Most economists think so - but given the extremely shaky state of the global ecomomy, how far can they be trusted? 

Either way the bottom line for me was always the arrogantly dishonest way the Campbell government foisted the HST on us with no debate whatever.   We just can't have our elected representatives telling us bald-faced lies and getting away with it.  Gordon Campbell is gone and good riddance to him.  But his replacement and many other Liberal pols are not much better.  A real downside now is that the NDP will likely be elected.  We need better choices. 

This is what happens when your Premier gets nailed for drunk driving

When your Premier gets caught driving dead drunk and survives the political fall-out ...

the safety zealots push for and get ridiculously harsh laws.

No one condones drunk driving because it's drunks who do the damage. And those same drunks are going to ignore the new laws the way they ignored the old ones. But someone with a blood alcohol level of .08 is not "drunk". In fact up until today it was considered safe to drive at that level. The people that will be unjustly punished are those caught with blood alcohol between .05 and .08. Oh, and don't forget the damage to businesses that rely on selling a glass of beer or wine with dinner.

So, thanks Premier Campbell, you drunken sot! Too bad you didn't get the boot back in 2003.

BC MPs wimped out on HST vote

My MP, Keith Martin, has made a lot of noise against the HST in BC where there is huge public opposition to the tax. But when it came time to vote, instead of voting against it he says he "boycotted" the vote. He explains his position in this article in The Province. Two other BC MPs also made a big public show of opposing the HST - Consevative Dona Cadman and Liberal Ujjal Dosanjh. Cadman abstained and Dosanjh voted for it!

... The HST is opposed by an overwhelming 82 per cent of British Columbians, according to a new Canwest News Service poll.

But it now appears the only way the HST will be stopped is if eight Liberal MLAs in Gordon Campbell's provincial government break ranks in Victoria.

After this week's show of political "bravery" in Ottawa, I wouldn't hold my breath.

More here:

... By a vote of 192 to 32, the House of Commons voted to approve a ways-and-means motion that clears the way for the government to introduce legislation as early as Friday that enables Ontario and B.C. to harmonize their provincial sales taxes with the federal goods-and-services tax.

... The Liberal leader has said that votes on the matter will be "whipped," meaning Liberal MPs will be expected to vote with the party.

However, 27 of the 77 Liberal MPs did not show up. The absentees included B.C. MPs Hedy Fry, Keith Martin and Joyce Murray, as well as such Ontario MPs as Mark Holland, Jim Karygiannis, Dan McTeague, Paul Szabo and David McGuinty, brother of Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Taxing our savings

One of the least talked about effects of implementing the HST is the impact on investments. Management fees charged by financial companies are now subject only to the %5 GST. If/when HST comes into effect there'll be another 7% (BC) or 8% (Ont) tacked onto fees for managing mutual funds and other investments. Management fees in Canada are already extremely high ranging from 1% to upwards of 3% of assets under mangement.

As this article explains the HST will hurt investors and their nest eggs:

... For a long-term investor, it will be the difference between an Audi and a Taurus, or golfing in Florida versus watching the Battle of the Blades on CBC.

We're talking multi-billions here. Why hasn't the issue been better publicized?

... There are compelling arguments and precedent for not further taxing Canadian's retirement capital, but unfortunately they've fallen on deaf ears because of bad timing and the wrong messenger.

... The timing relates to budget deficits. .... the response from a higher authority has been clear and consistent: “This is going to happen because we need the money. Focus on implementation and we'll talk about the inequities later.” Recessions are a bad time for rational arguments and good policy.

... the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) [has] done a good job of laying out the arguments why the HST is bad for Canadian investors. But IFIC is an organization whose membership is made up of too many firms that charge world-leading fees, and have been reluctant to share the benefits of their scale with clients. IFIC's association with Bay Street's fat cats has hurt its credibility when arguing against HST....

Read on.

They tax our income. Then they tax our spending. Now they propose to tax our savings. It's time to seriously start considering a move to Alberta, or the Caymans.

Climate bullcrap in the BC Throne Speech

Along with a giant dose of baloney attempting to rationalize the Campbell government’s outrageous arrogance in shoving the HST down our throats, we get this kind of random nonsense in today’s Throne Speech:

The record forest fire season reminds us once again that in spite of the denials, climate change is real and costly.

What unmitigated hooey! Local weather and a single forest fire season say absolutely nothing about climate. Besides, haven’t the boneheads been following the unusually cold summer weather to the east of BC.

The upside to seeing this kind of junk in a Throne Speech is that it highlights the Campbell government’s climate gullibility and reminds us of its similarly arrogant, out-of-the-blue imposition of North America’s first carbon tax.

The BC Liberals are doomed come next election which, sadly, is four years away.

HST a tax on savings

From an article by CI Financial:

... A harmonized sales tax (HST) would result in additional taxes being applied to investment management services, including mutual funds, segregated funds and other managed investment accounts, which are part of many registered savings plans, registered income funds and locked-in retirement accounts.

... While ... manufacturers would likely benefit the most from an HST by claiming credits for taxes paid on the inputs used to make their products, there is no similar offset for investment managers. For investors, it would be a tax grab, pure and simple.

A warning to government:

Should the HST be implemented ... financial services firms will be obligated to investigate ways to reduce the impact on their clients. One option would be to move parts of our operation to a province without an HST, such as Alberta. [And don’t think individuals won't also have an incentive to move.]

Taxes, taxes, taxes. We’re taxed on income. When we spend what’s left we’re taxed again. When we try to save it we’re also taxed. Time for a tax revolt.

HST - BC voters are mightily pissed

Two local polls:
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HST - how can you tell when politicians are lying?

Easy - when their lips are moving and/or their keyboards are clacking.

Yesterday BC FinMin Colin Hansen posted this incredible excuse on Facebook for why the Liberals said one thing during the election "and something else now":

... the party was asked about the HST. The answer was that the party's platform, while aware of the benefits the HST offered, did not contemplate the adoption of the HST in BC.That was an honest statement and, while I did not write it, I will defend the fact that it was totally accurate.After the election, I was able to "re-engage" with Finance Ministry staff. At that time, it became obvious that some key issues had changed dramatically (including, in this context, the HST world).

... What changed everything for us was the announcement by Ontario that they would sign on to the HST system effective July 1, 2010.

The Ontario decision to go to the HST was announced as part of the Ontario budget on March 26th. So why did the BC government not pick up on it until late May as Hansen says?

"On March 26, when the Ontario budget came down, to be honest I didn't pay a lot of attention to it." [For two months through the May 12th election and beyond!?]

That’s hardly believable but if true it reflects extremely poorly on his abilities. But whatever the truth of that statement, surely Hansen’s staff fully understood the implications - and surely they briefed him. The Feds have been pushing the HST since Chrétien said he’s kill the GST. So the BC government has known for decades all of the implications of HST and would have known almost instantly what it meant for BC if Ontario were to adopt the tax.

He also claims he didn’t know the rules have changed allowing BC flexibility to set a 12% tax rate instead of 13% as for the Atlantic provinces. Also not believable.

From the story in today’s Victoria Times Colonist:

NDP finance critic Bruce Ralston said Hansen's claim that he missed Ontario's switch to HST defies belief. More likely, Ralston said, Hansen has fabricated the story to cover up the fact that the Liberals hid their tax plans during the election campaign. "It's pathetic that he's trying to resort to this tortured explanation when it's just clearly not true," Ralston said.

He said that Hansen would have been briefed on the Ontario budget and his office would have been anticipating the HST announcement for months.

As early as January, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty told Canadian Press the province would take a "long, hard look" at adopting the HST.

Later that same month, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty indicated the federal government was willing to show more flexibility in its HST negotiations with the provinces.

"The reality is they knew about it before the election," Ralston said. "They had a serious discussion about it, they planned to implement it, but they didn't want to talk about it in the election campaign, because they knew it would damage their election chances."

As today’s TC editorial sums it up:　

... It defies belief to believe the tax went from nowhere to announcement in less than 10 weeks.

... Campbell promised years ago that he would run an open, honest government. The HST is just the latest announcement to make a mockery of that promise.

The political choices in BC are abysmal: Lieberal, NDP, Green and Marijuana. That last one is looking better all the time.

HST tax grab - how we’re being screwed

One thing the BC HST pronouncement is doing is shedding some light on how we’re being screwed under the current system. A major benefit of HST touted by BCFinMin Colin Hansen is that sales tax on business inputs would be eliminated and only the HST would be collected.

Double taxing plus tax on tax. How many people knew that businesses paid sales tax at the wholesale level. GST is not charged and I’d bet most people thought that PST was a retail value added tax. So what the government is now admitting is that they have been double taxing products all along. The weasels are collecting sales tax from retailers on their wholesale purchases, then collecting sales tax again on the higher retail price of the products. And, worse, consumers are paying tax on business input taxes.

So the government thinks we should be grateful that they're implementing the HST on the grounds that they’ll stop screwing us through double taxation and tax on tax. Grateful my ass! They shouldn’t have been screwing us (and making business uncompetitive) to begin with. They were counseled not to, by Preston Manning, for one:

"The five provinces that still apply sales tax to business inputs, namely British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island, should immediately end this practice. ..."

Anyway, how will the BC tax-grabbers now make up for lost business input tax revenue? Obviously by taxing everything that wasn’t previously taxed. Some businesses will be more competitive under the new HST regime but consumers, that’s EVERYBODY, will really be screwed and then some.

Stop the HST! And stop double taxation and tax on tax!

HST for BC - joining the losers

The BC Liberal government announced today that it would implement the harmonized sales tax (HST). That’s more or less out of the blue. No discussion, no debate - BC will join taxed-to-death economic losers in Atlantic Canada and declining, newly have-not Ontario in having the HST shoved down their throats.

The Liberals claim that it will "boost the economy". Bull shit! The real money quote is here:

[Finance Minister] Hansen said ... "In B.C., we have some big budget challenges because of declining revenues. This will help us to ensure we can continue to provide health care, education and vital social services."

"... big budget challenges" - no doubt exacerbated by massive Olympic Games cost overruns. Any way you slice it this is just one more giant freaking TAX GRAB.

The new tax will hit a wide variety of goods and services now exempt from PST - the restaurant industry being one big example. But the single biggest and most important asset most people have is their home. New homes will now cost tens of thousands of dollars more. Real estate commissions and lawyers’ fees will be taxed a further 7%.

Gordo, you f***ing martini-soaked weasel! [Mustn't cuss, mustn't cuss.]

It’s time for the BC Conservative party to get rolling.

Victoria sentiment: