XPost: bc.politics, van.general, vic.general   
      
   By Michael Smyth, The Province  -  March 30, 2010   
      
   HST legislation could lead to Liberals' demise   
      
   The provincial government is poised to introduce its HST implementation bill   
   as early as   
   today-- delivering on one of the most brazen broken promises in B.C. political   
   history.   
      
   Don't forget the governing Liberals promised during the last election not to   
   bring in the   
   hated 12-percent harmonized sales tax -- a commitment they made in writing and   
   delivered   
   to the very businesses the tax will hurt the most.   
      
   One of those sectors was the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association,   
   which asked the   
   Liberal Party directly what their position was on the HST. As we stand on the   
   brink of   
   this ignominious betrayal of B.C. voters, it's appropriate to revisit exactly   
   what the   
   Liberal position was on this tax: "While some British Columbians have   
   suggested that a   
   harmonized PST and GST might be beneficial, others have pointed out that it   
   would extend   
   the PST tax base to a broader range of goods and services that are presently   
   exempt from   
   provincial sales tax.   
      
   "Such items that are currently PST-exempt include energy-efficient appliances,   
   membership   
   fees for clubs and gyms, newspapers and magazines, taxi fares, restaurant food   
   and the   
   professional services of architects and accountants. This is a major concern.   
      
   "The B.C. Liberals are also mindful that a harmonized GST would reduce the   
   provincial   
   government's ability to unilaterally adjust sales-tax rates. The harmonized   
   GST would make   
   it harder for future provincial governments to lower or raise sales-tax rates,   
   which   
   reduces flexibility.   
      
   "In short, a harmonized GST is not something that is contemplated in the B.C.   
   Liberal   
   platform."   
      
   The exact same commitment was made in writing by the Liberals to the Greater   
   Vancouver   
   Home Builders Association: A major concern. An inflexible tax. Not   
   contemplated under a   
   Liberal government.   
      
   Now, less than a year later, get set to have it rammed down your throat,   
   without a word of   
   regret or an apology to the people who believed what they were told before the   
   election.   
      
   Is it any wonder the Liberals have fallen as far as they have in the polls?   
   Getting   
   slammed with a $2-billion tax grab is bad enough. Getting slammed after you've   
   been   
   promised that it wouldn't happen is even worse.   
      
   Could this betrayal of B.C. voters cost the Liberals in the next election?   
   Party insiders   
   are worried, though they're hoping B.C. ers don't want NDP Leader Carole James   
   as premier.   
   That might be true, but consider this: The once-mighty B.C. Conservative Party   
   is starting   
   to attract some support on the political fringes. In a recent Angus Reid poll,   
   the B.C.   
      
   Conservatives got 18-per-cent support in the north and eight per cent in the   
   Interior.   
      
   That's not enough for the Conservatives to win an election, but it could split   
   the   
   right-wing vote in enough key ridings to help the New Democrats win crucial   
   seats.   
      
   Former premier Bill Vander Zalm has taken his anti-HST petition drive to the   
   very   
   communities where the Libs are most vulnerable -- cities such as Prince   
   George, Dawson   
   Creek, Fort St. John and Castlegar.   
      
   These are the places where an anti-HST grassroots brush fire could burn the   
   Libs. Now, by   
   introducing their broken-promise HST bill in the legislature, they may be   
   authoring their   
   own misfortune.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)