XPost: bc.politics, van.general, vic.general   
   From: NøCøns@our.House   
      
   The Government's proposal:  'You give us $2 and we'll give you $1 back  - - -    
   but just this   
   one time.'   
   _________________________________________________________   
      
   The Province - May 26, 2011   
      
   Opponents come out swinging against ‘absolutely stupid’ HST fixes (with video)   
      
      
   NDP leader Adrian Dix and Fight-HST leader Bill Vander Zalm ridiculed the B.C.   
   government’s   
   harmonized sales tax changes Wednesday, respectively calling the “bold,   
   responsive and   
    balanced” proposals a “grab bag of gimmicks” and “absolutely stupid.”   
      
   Dix called the government’s promises, which included a pledge to cut the 12   
   per cent tax by two   
   percentage points, a “fiction” while Vander Zalm described them as “the   
   dumbest” thing that’s   
   ever happened in the province and vowed to continue his fight against the tax,   
   which goes to a   
   vote this summer.   
      
   “It’s crazy, for one thing,” said Vander Zalm, a former Social Credit premier.   
   “But in a way, I’m   
   a little pleased, too, because they’ve admitted that the HST is a no-go,   
   they’ve admitted   
   people were being overcharged, they’ve admitted that there is no job creation   
   . . . and they’ve   
   admitted it’s a disaster.”   
      
   In addition to slashing the tax by two percentage points — the first cut to   
   the provincial   
   portion will take effect July 1, 2012, the second in 2014 — Finance Minister   
   Kevin Falcon, who   
   unveiled the proposal in Victoria, promised British Columbians a series of   
   rebates as well as a   
   hike on corporate tax rates.   
      
   The rebates will see all families with children under 18 receive one-time   
   payments of $175 per   
   child. The same amount will be mailed out to low- and modest-income seniors,   
   said Falcon, who   
   called his plan “bold, responsive and balanced.”   
      
   The cost of these cheques, which will go out at the end of the year, will top   
   $200 million,   
   said Falcon, who added the payments are designed to ease the $350 in   
   additional sales tax the   
   average family is currently paying under the HST.   
      
   “On average, all families will be better off under the improved HST,” said   
   Falcon, adding the   
   fixes will see the average family pay $120 less than under the old provincial   
   sales tax. “Is it   
   going to be enough? I don’t know. My hope is that . . . it should be enough to   
   hopefully bring   
   on board a majority of the public to support retaining what I believe, and   
   what most   
   independent credible experts will tell you, is a much more effective and   
   efficient tax policy.”   
      
   To help cover the cost of slashing the HST — each percentage point will result   
   in a revenue   
   loss of $850 million — and meet the commitment of a balanced budget by   
   2013/14, the government   
   said it will increase the general corporate income tax rate from 10 per cent   
   to 12 per cent on   
   Jan. 1, 2012 and postpone a planned 2.5-per-cent small business tax cut that   
   had been scheduled   
   for April 1, 2012.   
      
   Existing HST rebates for low-income British Columbians will remain, said   
   Falcon.   
      
   All the changes would be contingent on the public voting to keep the tax in   
   the mail-in   
   referendum from June 13 to July 22, said Falcon.   
      
   Dix said he would not support the legislation when it is debated next week. He   
   characterized it   
   as an attempt by the Liberal party to buy votes, and said he would continue to   
   fight the tax.   
      
   “I think what we are seeing from the Premier and what we are seeing from the   
   government is a   
   desperate effort to buy people with their own money . . . and I don’t believe   
   it will work,” he   
   said.   
      
   B.C. Conservative leader-designate John Cummins also came out swinging against   
   the government’s   
   plan, calling the premier’s “fix” a “mishandled failure” that is bad for   
   business. Shachi Kurl,   
   director of provincial affairs in B.C. for the Canadian Federation of   
   Independent Business,   
   said it was reassuring that the minister had committed to reversing the tax   
   increase and   
   proceeding with the small-business rate cuts as soon as B.C.’s books were   
   balanced.   
      
   “I don’t think businesses ever welcome or are fans of tax increases or a delay   
   in proposed rate   
   cuts for small business,” said Kurl. “But we recognize there is a trade-off.”   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)