Having power is something many people strive for in their lives.
However once you get it, you may not enjoy the responsibility that comes with it. As time has passed since the HST vote we have heard many suggestions that the next few years will be unpredictable.
The people took the power, but was this the right fight to flex your muscles? When MP David Wilks was in town this week he was asked about the ramifications of the HST removal, and was honest in saying the Federal Government wants their money back.
So the province has to hand back $1.6 billion to start with. The fact that no one is sure how much this is going to cost businesses to switch back is another issue. Another side bar, which also may come back to bite B.C., is the willingness of the Feds to send money into a province that just toasted a tax they had pushed for.
This is one of those episodes where we better hope the blue in power has a short memory when different groups go to Ottawa to ask for some cash.
In a time when the phrase double recession is being bounced around, and economies are still floundering, losing the cash may just be the start.
With the money gone after being budgeted in by the Liberals in B.C., there may only be two choices left on how this money will be made up.
Raising taxes (and we all know who will be hit by that), or cutbacks in areas where no residents want to see cutbacks. It does not matter that the vote may or may not have been an emotional one. It is done and now we have to live with it. The power the people took back is something rarely seen. The catch is that you won and have the power, but can you live with what happens next if it involves cutbacks or higher taxes? This should make for an interesting ride.
Darryl Crane
