Thought I’d post a couple more notes on the HST.
Do you remember when the GST was being implemented, i.e. forced on us? In 1991, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney promised an improvement in the Canadian economy as a hidden Manufacturers’ Sales Tax (MST) would be replaced with an upfront Goods and Services Tax. With this, he said, we would be more competitive to export our goods and it would benefit all Canadians as prices would eventually drop for us as it would be a lower tax than the 13.5% MST. Prices did not drop at all in some cases or enough, in other cases, to make up for the new tax.
We’re Canadians. We’re used to being taxed. We complain about it and then forget about it and pay the higher rates like good Canadians. The government had already tried once before to implement the joint tax with the “Blended Sales Tax” with Prime Minister Jean Chretien. It was nicknamed the “B.S. Tax” and it didn’t go through.
Now we’re being told that the HST will start in July 2010 and that it too will improve our economy. We’re being told that manufacturers will drop their prices and save us money in the long run. We’re being told that more jobs will make life for all Canadians better. We’re being told that it is not a way for the government to raise money as they are calling it revenue-neutral (same as they told us for the GST). The fact is that it is estimated that it will cost an extra $2000 per year for each family or an extra $1250 per year for each elderly couple.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m working on getting informed and I think it important that all Canadians know what is happening with this too because it will affect each and every one of us.
Some sites (both sides) for information:
Fight the HST – Bill Vanderzalm’s very informative site http://fighthst.com/
Yes, this is about the GST, but check out the parallels to the HST http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goods_and_Services_Tax_(Canada)
A smarter way to implement the HST as Atlantic Canada did http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=9f7101af-f05c-40bf-a95e-3fb267fc0667
Check out the comments! 441 of them and the commenting was closed off. People are angry! http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/07/23/bc-hst-pst-gst.html
Job losses in the restaurant industry. And, did you know even funerals will be hit by this tax? http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/08/05/bc-hst-restaurant-owners-survey.html
BCBusiness Magazine http://www.bcbusinessonline.ca/bcb/bc-blogs/insider/2009/07/29/hst-high-handed-and-selfish-tax
I could only find one positive site about the HST, and that’s the government one http://www.gov.bc.ca/hst/
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