While most of the country is unaware of it, a great democratic activity is going on currently in British Columbia. Following organised protests and legal challenge to the introduction of the Harmonized Sales Tax ("HST") on July 1, 2010 the government has chosen to ask the population by postal referendum whether or not the 12% HST should be retained or reverted back to the the old combination of a 5% GST and 7% Provincial Retail Sales Tax.
"Referendum Voting Packages" were to be mailed from June 13 to June 24 to all registered voters. Ballots were to be returned by July 22. Referendum results were to be announced in August. While some voters have received their packages and can hand-deliver their ballot to BC Elections Services Centers established troughout the province, a majority of voters will not receive the Referendum voting packages by June 24 in view of the current lock-out of Canada Post workers. Currently BC Elections is not contemplating any changes to the timetable for the referendum.
As any Quebecker will tell you, referendum questions are often confusing and this may complicate matters. The HST referendum question is no exception to the rule: the question is as follows, voters being required to vote yes or no.
Are you in favor of extinguishing the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) and reinstating the PST (Provincial Sales Tax) in conjuction with the GST (Goods and Services Tax)?
Some feel that the use of the term "extinguish" may be somewhat confusing. At any rate, this means that to say "yes" to the HST people must vote "no" to the referendum question. (Or vote "yes" to the question to say "no" to the HST.) If this is not confusing enough, the elaborate 7 steps (sic) voting process including not one but three different enveloppes will surely greatly confuse more than one voter. Not following all the steps will likely result in the ballot being rejected. In fact, Elections BC has produced the following video to help voters understand the process. Check it out to see a perfect example of governmental work at its best; why make things simple when you can render them complex after all?
Should voters vote "no" to the HST, i.e. "yes" to the referendum the situation will be messy for businesses and governments alike. Accounting changes and administratives costs would have to be incurred again to wind down the HST and reinstate the PST and GST. BC would likely have to refund the 1.6$ billion transition payment received from the Federal thus increasing budgetary financial woes facing all governments in the current state of the economy.
The Provincial Liberal government obviously wants (needs?) to keep the HST. To try to ensure a successful "no" vote, the government has promised to reduce the HST to 10% by 2014. Nevertheless, opposition to the HST is very strong in BC. Opponents of the HST contend that the HST represents a supplementary cost of $1,208 for an average family.
Time wil tell how the vote turns out, providing the postal conflict is resolved fast enough. If not, the whole process will have to be reviewed, delayed if not cancelled. Indeed, the timetable will have to be changed, referendum packages reprinted, ect..., all at taxpayers costs.
While I believe that the HST is a clear improvement over the combined GST-PST, and more than likely advantageous for the consumer, especially if the rate is reduced to 10%, I fear that the public wrath against new taxes is profound and visceral and that BC taxpayers may well shoot themselves in the foot by saying no the HST and voting yes....
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