OSOYOOS TIMES-August 19, 2009
To say the Liberals have kicked up a bit of a stink with the announcement that B.C.’s GST and PST will be harmonized next July would be the understatement of the year.
But to get mad at a government for introducing a new tax (or in this case, a new system of taxation) or to complain that a government is doing nothing less than finding ways of making us pay more for everything seems foolish.
That’s what governments do.
They’ve been at it for a long time and all the outrage and shock that’s come up in the past month regarding the HST is almost surprising.
No one should have been caught off guard by the fact the announcement came without warning.
Again, that’s what governments do.
And governments will keep doing it.
It’s the same as getting mad at a baby for soiling a diaper.
What the Liberals should have done to make the HST announcement slightly more digestible was shed light on all the details surrounding the new system right off the bat.
Even if it hurts.
Tell us exactly how it will work; provide a precise list of what products and services will be affected and don’t be afraid to tell us the real reasons why the changes are coming about.
Some information has come out about what products and services the HST will be applied to and some information has come out on why the HST is being introduced— mainly savings for businesses and the risk of losing more than $1 billion in federal money for education and health care.
But such details have emerged slowly and in sporadic spurts, giving the public a new reason to become frustrated almost every couple of days.
In at least one other province, introducing the HST proved costly to the government of the day.
The Nova Scotia Liberals, after introducing a harmonized tax in 1997, suffered a pronounced defeat in an election two years later.
It will be interesting to see, if the B.C. Liberals hold the course on the HST and if the public’s memory doesn’t lapse before 2013, what harmonizing the tax here will mean for the government of this province.
