British Columbians will soon be voting no to keep the HST or yes to extinguish the HST and revert back to the old PST/GST system.
I will be voting no. I am in favour of retaining the HST and paying lower taxes.
Like almost everyone else, I believe the government of the day did an abysmal job in rolling out the HST in 2010 but that is ancient history now. It’s time to move on.
Every eligible voter needs to be informed of the facts before they vote and not just vote yes to punish the government.
Regardless of your political persuasion, your income or your age, you should do the research into the overall benefits of the HST.
Now that the government has addressed many of the concerns by lowering the HST to 10 per cent and by providing children and seniors with $175 rebate cheques until the 10 per cent HST takes effect, the average B.C. family will now pay $120 less per year with the HST than under the PST/GST.
Even if the HST may cost you more money, shouldn’t you be more concerned with creating jobs and building a strong provincial economy? This is what the new HST is all about.
The PST is an archaic tax system and if we go back to this archaic system it will let some taxpayers pay less tax (like Mr. Vander Zalm who doesn’t like paying HST on his dry cleaning bill) and will force others (like those purchasing home renovation materials and furniture for their home) to pay more.
I, for one, don’t mind if Mr. Vander Zalm has to pay HST on his dry cleaning bill. If you can afford these services, you can afford to pay your fair share of the tax on these services.
So before you vote think of your children and your grandchildren. Who is going to pay for our ever increasing health care and education costs?
If we revert back to the old PST/GST, we will once again be shifting the tax burden back onto the younger generation and that’s just not fair.
So I challenge all of you under-40s to learn more about the equity and fairness of the HST because if you vote yes to extinguish the HST you will just be punishing yourselves and your children.
Get informed and I am confident you will see the benefits of the HST and then take this one step further and encourage all the over 40s to vote no as well.
Your decision to vote yes or no should not be based on anything other than an informed opinion.
Learn more at these websites: www.hstjobs.ca; www.hstinbc.ca. And most importantly, vote.
If you don’t vote just because you can’t take the time to do some research, then shame on you.
Jack Borden
Coldstream
