Osoyoos residents met on the corner of highways 97 and 3 on Aug. 28 to garner public attention to their fight against the establishment of the Harmonized Sales Tax. Paul McCavour, in the white hat, holds one end of the sign. Photo by Laurena Weninger - Click on photo for larger image
OSOYOOS TIMES-September 2, 2009
By Laurena Weninger – Osoyoos Times
There was a whole lot of honking and cheering going on at the corner of highways 97 and 3 on Aug. 28.
“As you can see, every second person agrees with us,” said Paul McCavour, who was holding one end of a giant “No HST” sign, and waving to passers-by. “Our message to Mr. (Gordon) Campbell is simple: Tell us the truth and treat us fair.”
About 35 people turned out to the rally to fight the implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) in B.C., set to take effect next year.
The point was to make people aware there are others who are opposed to the idea of combining the provincial sales tax (PST) with the federal goods and services tax (GST) to make the new tax (HST).
Those opposed argue that the new tax will mean paying 12 per cent tax on items that have been subject only to the five per cent GST – including restaurant meals and new houses.
That’s too much tax, say those opposed, and they want the matter to go to a vote.
“We want to be the very first in B.C. to get the 10 per cent of the vote – it will trigger a referendum,” McCavour explained. “We want to be asked. We want a choice.”
McCouver said they intend to help former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm, from the former Social Credit Party, with his move to rally 10 per cent of the electorate, which will trigger a referendum.
“We think this (the HST) will hurt the people who can’t afford it,” McCavour said, speaking of the portion of the public who live paycheque to paycheque – especially during a recession. “Talk about kicking you when you’re down.”
McCavour’s group wasn’t the only anti-HST action in Osoyoos that day.
In the afternoon, nine men from an informal morning coffee-shop group met at Boundary-Similkameen MLA John Slater’s Osoyoos office to present him with a petition against the tax.
“We the undersigned, believe Gordon Campbell and the B.C. Liberals didn’t tell the truth about the HST… we call on the Campbell government to scrap plans to implement the HST in 2010,” reads part of the petition containing more than 100 signatures.
“A lot of us voted for you,” said Cornelius De Cock, one of the group members. “We want you to give our words to Victoria.”
Osoyoos’s Barrie Trottier headed up the group.
“It doesn’t even add up,” he told Slater before handing him the stack of papers. “We’re getting less service, for more money.”
Slater said the changeover to a harmonized sales tax is going to go ahead, but the details haven’t been worked out yet.
“The bottom line is, you’ve got to get the money from somewhere,” he said. “Let’s face it. Taxes are very unpopular. The people of British Columbia will have to realize if we want the services we’re going to have to raise the money.”
The B.C. Finance Ministry has re-designed its website with more information about the tax.
It can be found at www.gov.bc.ca/hst and there is a new information phone line at 1-877-388-4440.
McCouver and Trottier are hoping to rally more support to help fill their petitions. McCouver can be reached at 250-495-6765.
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