Get Ready for The Hard Sell

In the Canadian Press Article "HST vote will focus on tax's merits: B.C. minister:" September 15, 2010, British Columbia Minister of Finance, Colin Hansen opines that the referendum on the Harmonized Sales Tax should not be a vote on how poorly they introduced it but should be a vote on the merits of the HST.

I agree. The public has heard all the arguments put forward by Gordon Campbell and the Liberal government and have made it clear they do not support the transfer of $2 billion a year in taxes from business to individual taxpayers and that should be the issue.

However, I do not believe Minister Hansen. The lead up to the referendum will not be about the merits of the HST. It will be about using any strategy they can to scare, mislead and buy votes.

They will not be alone in this process. They will be joined by the large business groups that benefit from the huge transfer of tax base from business to individuals. The article notes "John Winter, spokesman for the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, urged businesses Tuesday to be more vocal about the benefits of the tax. " Of course he does. If someone was trying to give me a $2 billion tax break, I'd fight for it too.

So, what can we expect? Gordon Campbell and the Liberal government will use our money to send send us "facts" that will be as accurate as prior Liberal statements (we didn't consider the HST prior to the Election, we won't sell BC rail, we won't rip up contracts, education and health care are a priority, the Olympics are under budget). There will be no fact too obvious to twist, no fear they will not invoke, no cost too great to convince us that we don't know what is good for us.

Let me give my small voice to point out some of my opinions:

• Of course the tax transfer is good for business. Giving $2 billion a year to any group will be good for them. I do not believe there will be $2 billion in benefit to taxpayers. The argument that making it cheaper for business always makes it better for taxpayers would mean that reducing business tax by $4 billion would be even better. Heck, if we eliminate all taxes for businesses we be living in a heaven on earth!
• Taking $2 billion a year out of consumers pockets will slow the economy and already has by several measures.
• If we reduce our business taxes and attract businesses from other jurisdictions, those jurisdictions will reduce theirs to keep businesses and attract more. We will be contributing to a never ending spiral of more individual taxes and less business taxes.

I only hope that the public doesn't get bought out, scared off confused by the Liberal Government and big business campaign. Colin Hansen is telling one small truth. It is about the merits of the HST and it sucks.