The response by Mick Black to my anti-HST letter is exactly what I expected. I don’t know if he is a business owner or not but he is defending their tax break.
He says that the numbers I quoted are “ridiculous.” He then goes on to rattle off a bunch of numbers that may or may not be correct. They are most likely something that the BC Liberals put out to try to sell this terrible tax. He tells us that basic goods are HST exempt and that only 17 per cent of goods are now subject to the additional seven per cent PST portion of the tax.
I don’t think it matters one little bit whose numbers are correct. The bottom line is he obviously missed the point of my letter, which was that business is being given a tax break at the expense of the consumer.
If this tax was brought in to help pay for services maybe it would have been acceptable, but it is supposed to be revenue neutral and is strictly a tax transfer from business to consumer. It is definitely not revenue neutral to those of us who have to pay it. When 17 per cent of the goods we buy increased by seven per cent, so that some business owners can get a tax break, is to me what is ridiculous.
Mr. Black goes on to say that I am typical of anti-HSTers who believe everything Bill Vander Zalm tells us. I would say to him that I don’t need Bill Vander Zalm to tell me that my cost of living has increased as a result of the HST, but I’m glad that he has stepped up to help fight something that is so wrong.
The Times Colonist in Victoria commissioned a Statistics Canada report. The headline in the paper was: HST will be big hit to British Columbian’s wallets: Stat’s Can.
It then went on to say: New figures from Statistics Canada prove that the HST will be a big hit to British Columbians in the pocketbook.
The comprehensive analysis by Statistics Canada shows that the HST will have the following affect: The average household in B.C. will be out an additional $521 each year. A married couple without children will pay $801 more per year. A single senior will pay $262 more per year.
Need I go on? I’m sure that Mr. Black and others will keep defending the HST, and those who know it is bad will keep fighting it until we once again get to tell the government that the majority of us don’t want this tax.
Bill Copeland
Cawston