XPost: bc.politics, van.general, vic.general   
   From: 40%®Çonned@cdn.ca   
      
   And while they're at it . . . . . how about getting rid of the damnable   
   'property purchase tax'   
   that was ALSO supposed to be a 'temporary tax' on the sale of homes - old and   
   new.  No one is   
   going to forget at voting time that Christy Clark tried to squeeze every   
   damned dollar from the   
   taxpayers in BC before facing an election in 2013.  Good luck to you and your   
   lying 'Liberal'   
   goons, Christy.  2013 is your last pay period.   
   _____________________________________________________   
   CBC News  Oct 14, 2011   
      
   Drop B.C. HST on new homes now, realtors say   
      
   Realtors are asking the B.C. government to remove the provincial portion of   
   the HST on new homes   
   immediately.   
   The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says hundreds of newly built condos   
   are sitting   
   vacant while buyers wait for the tax to be scrapped, and are requesting the   
   seven-per-cent   
   provincial portion of the HST be dropped as quickly as possible.   
      
   Builders and buyers alike know the HST on new homes will be lifted sometime   
   over the next 17   
   months, following the success of the anti-HST referendum. But nobody’s sure   
   when it will happen.   
      
   "Prospective new home buyers are reluctantly sitting on the sidelines,"   
   Harriet Permut, of the   
   Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, told the B.C. legislature's finance   
   committee Friday.   
      
   Permut said uncertainty over the HST can have an impact throughout the   
   economy, as it means a   
   decline in housing starts and fewer jobs in construction.   
      
   "Our colleagues at the Urban Development Institute say that there are over a   
   thousand units in   
   our board area alone, apartment units, that are not being brought onto the   
   market, and they're   
   waiting for the HST to be resolved," Permit said.   
      
   Statistics Canada noted this week that the selling price of new homes in Metro   
   Vancouver dropped   
   in August, another sign, developers believe, of lingering uncertainty.   
      
   B.C. Finance Minister Kevin Falcon issued a statement Friday, saying the   
   government, "is   
   committed to make the transition back to the PST plus GST system as   
   responsibly and quickly as   
   we possibly can."   
      
   Falcon would not commit to an earlier transition for some sectors, but said   
   the government does   
   welcome input from the real estate and housing industries and will take   
   concerns about the   
   transition period and its impact on the housing sector into consideration.   
      
   Falcon also said that there are other factors that might influence people's   
   decisions to buy   
   homes besides the HST, including, "a struggling global economy."   
      
   ____________________________   
      
   Yeah, that's right, Falcon - we're postponing buying a new house because we're   
   worried about the   
   debt level in Greece.  Who the hell writes your stuff?   
      
      
   *******************************************************   
   "We CAN look after each other better than we do today.   
   We CAN have a fiscally responsible government.   
   We CAN have a strong economy; greater equality; a clean environment.   
   We CAN be a force for peace in the world."                      - Jack Layton   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)