Editor:
It’s interesting to see how the Liberal government brought in the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) in a very short time when it suited their needs.
Now that the people of B.C. have rejected the HST through last fall’s referendum, the Liberal government is taking its time at reversing this tax.
When introduced in July 2009, the HST not only combined the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) and federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) the government now applied it to many more items that had not previously been taxed. Where we once paid only one tax, we now pay two, albeit under one name.
Groceries are one example of this double dip into consumers’ pockets. Taxpayers can’t take more of this strain on their finances. So many other costs are increasing — MSP premiums, food, fuel, clothing — and the added taxes are just one more burden to B.C. families.
The longer the HST remains in place, the harder life is for people on low or fixed incomes to stretch their dollars. This Liberal government needs to fulfill its responsibility to eliminate the HST as determined by the referendum.
Since it only took 11 months to implement the tax, it shouldn’t take 18 months to reverse it.
MLA Donna Barnett and the Liberal government must get rid of the HST now. Any further delay is unacceptable.
Charlie Wyse
NDP candidate, Cariboo Chilcotin
Williams Lake