Tired of being gouged in the name of the harmonized sales tax? Too bad, because we’re about to spend another $7 million to learn how we can’t live without it.
Recently, the B.C. government unveiled a $5 million advertising campaign to inform voters about our “value added tax” prior to a proposed referendum on the tax. The campaign features cartoons intended to educate and not tell people how to vote.
“This is not going to be a persuasion campaign,” commented Finance Minister Kevin Falcon. No, that’s going to come in political promises to lower the HST, and perhaps add new items to the list of exemptions (such as bicycles and vitamins, which were exempt from provincial sales tax).
The ad campaign is part of a $7 million effort to make sure we all have a good idea of what it is we’ll be voting on.
Of course, this is the same government that, until recently, has been telling us we’ll be in financial ruin if the HST is shot down, forced to pay back the $1.6 million received from the feds to adopt the tax.
The fact is, the federal government has not yet provided a firm statement on what would happen if voters shoot down the HST. Premier Christy Clark has said her government would try to “minimize” the amount paid back. And yet the premier has no problem spending almost half the amount to provide British Columbians with information that should have been available long before we were put in this predicament.
Haven’t we paid enough already? The HST has pushed B.C.’s inflation rate above the national average. A government-appointed panel recently found B.C. families are paying $1.33 billion more in taxes. Meanwhile, business is said to be paying $730 million less.
Still waiting for those savings to be passed onto customers? So are we.
Keep your fingers crossed that Premier Clark has some answers in the coming days that spell relief for working families and seniors.
