Columbia River – Revelstoke MLA Norm Macdonald has panned changes to the Harmonized Sales Tax announced by the provincial government on May 25. He says the government is forgetting the reason why some voters have opposed the tax change.
“British Columbians believed the BC Liberals when they said they would not bring in the HST. That was the first HST promise broken by this government,” Macdonald said in a statement. “And now the BC Liberals are making more promises about the HST. Can voters really trust that this time the BC Liberals will do as they say?”
He noted the change won’t be in effect ahead of the June 24 HST referendum.
“If the BC Liberals really believed that the promised ‘new and improved post-referendum HST’ was the right direction to go, they would have made these adjustments before implementing the tax in 2010. The truth is, they are desperate to get voters to keep the HST, and will say anything to make that happen.”
He criticized government for making tax policy on the fly.
“It’s disturbing to see that the BC Liberals are so cavalier about managing revenue streams. Recently we have seen tax cuts announced and then rescinded, tax exemptions cancelled and then reinstated, and tax promises made and then broken. The BC Liberals’ flip-flops have been remarkable and Christy Clark is continuing this pattern,” said Macdonald.
“This is a government that can’t manage and can’t be trusted. The bottom line is that the BC Liberals have completely bungled the HST file, and now voters have a responsibility to send a strong message in the upcoming HST referendum.”
Macdonald predicted the British Columbians will reject the HST by voting yes in the June 24 HST referendum.
The referendum question is: Are you in favour of extinguishing the HST and reinstating the PST in conjunction with the GST?
