Christy Clark's Harmonized Sales Tax gets panned by the critics in the BC NDP's media room. The following is an NDP press release issued last Friday:
B.C. LIBERAL HST GIMMICK MISLEADS BRITISH COLUMBIANS FURTHERMay 27, 2011
VICTORIA - The latest attempt by the B.C. Liberals to buy votes ahead of the HST referendum is just further smoke and mirrors, say the New Democrats.
"The B.C. Liberals aren't telling you that the HST, at whatever rate, means families pay more for countless items previously exempt from the PST," said New Democrat finance critic Bruce Ralston. "Their claim that it's a choice between 10 and 12 per cent is absolute fabrication and a deliberate misrepresentation of what the HST vote is all about.
"The truth is voters will be voting to get rid of the B.C. Liberals' 12-per-cent HST in favour of going back to a fairer system where items such as prepared food, nutritional supplements, basic telephone and cable services and countless other items would only be taxed with a five-per-cent GST."
Ralston said Adrian Dix and the New Democrats have championed the fight against the HST deception for B.C. families, and people are tired of being deceived by the B.C. Liberals.
"This latest gimmick is just more of the same. The B.C. Liberals are also trying to tell you that the average family only pays $350 more per year under the HST but they don't tell you that they count one person as a family, artificially deflating the true numbers," said Ralston. "The truth is a two-income-earning family with both members making $50,000 each - the average B.C. salary - will pay over $1,000 more per year under the HST.
"And that doesn't even include the increase to big-ticket items such as a new house, renovations or a new roof for your home."
Ralston noted that Premier Clark's latest gimmick contradicts her earlier promise, and in her own words is an attempt to buy votes.
In March, just two months ago, Premier Clark said, "We aren't going to be talking about trying to reduce it by a point or two before the referendum. I mean, I think people will see that as buying them with their own money."
"No one believes anything the B.C. Liberals say anymore, especially when it comes to the HST," said Ralston. "Families know they pay more under the HST, and no amount of tinkering by the B.C. Liberals will change that.
"The only way to fix this B.C. Liberal mess is to vote yes to ending the HST, then vote them out of office in the next election."
Adrian Dix and the New Democrats are offering positive change British Columbians can trust, with compassionate, fair and pragmatic solutions to address B.C.'s social, economic and environmental challenges.
Meanwhile, also from the BC NDP newsroom: DIX VOWS TO CONTINUE TO PROTECT FAMILIES, SMALL BUSINESSES FROM HST.
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