As the wildfires continue to wage across the province, so too is the raging anger residents are feeling towards the proposed harmonized sales tax (HST).
Two weeks ago, Premier Gordon Campbell made the announcement that the province plans to merge the GST and the PST into a single 12 per cent HST. The change would come into effect in July 2010, making many services seven per cent more costly.
Former premier Bill Vander Zalm has started organizing province-wide HST protests and a rally at the B.C. legislature when it resumes after the summer break.
Vancouver columnist Bill Tieleman has set up a Facebook page called "No B.C. HST." The page already has more than 20,000 members opposed to the new tax scheme, and the list continues to grow daily.
The New Democrat opposition have also been rallying against the tax. Last Sunday they protested in Burnaby and have their own on-line petition that has seen 10,000 signatures since it was launched last Thursday. Later this month, NDP Leader Carole James is planning a tour of the province to gauge feedback from consumers and businesses about the tax and how it will affect them. Armed with this ammunition, she hopes to go into the fall sitting of the Legislature guns ablazing and will no doubt spark a heated and contentious debate among MLAs.
In making the announcement, Camp-bell said this is "the single biggest thing" the government could do to improve B.C.'s economy. The government believes that it will help create jobs, boost investments and improve productivity.
A statement released by the provincial government said HST would eliminate over $2 billion in costs for B.C. businesses and the federal government will give the province $1.6 billion to help it transition to the HST.
While it's hard to comprehend how a larger tax is going to help us, the major sticking point for the government is the timing of the announcement and the fact the announcement was made at all.
During the election, the Liberals made a promise to British Columbians that there would be no new taxes. Now we have this announcement? It just doesn't sit well. Remember the Liberals won the election by only four per cent of the popular vote and lost many key ridings in the Lower Mainland because of controversial issues that constituents felt their Liberal MLAs didn't care about, so they booted them out.
If the Liberals are not careful, the HST proposal could prove to be disastrous among the voting public. People tend not to forget about something this big, and if early indications against the tax continue, it's going to be a tough sell.
