B.C.'s HST plans revealed Wednesday
"The B.C. govenment will unveil its plan in Victoria Wednesday to try to reduce the impact of the HST.
Premier Christy Clark has said the tax needs to be fixed and she has been promising bold and smart measures to do that.
"We are going to do our level best to make sure we are addressing the concerns that people have," Clark said Tuesday. "We are going to have to do it within provincial jurisdiction and with the tools we have in our tool box."
The premier admitted B.C. families are feeling squeezed by the HST: a recent report pegged the cost at $350 a year for the average family.
Clark told delegates at the recent B.C. Liberal convention that she is concerned about the HST adding to the extra financial squeeze families are facing......NDP leader Adrian Dix calls the government's maneuvering a cynical and desperate move.
"It doesn't change the fact that this is regressive tax that they misled people about and they now want to find yet another way to push through," said Dix.
Dix says the government should scrap the tax — not look for ways to fix it.
The provincial government plans to mail out ballots in a binding referendum on the tax within a few weeks. Results are expected in August.
The HST, introduced in July 2009, became law last July and combines the five-per-cent federal goods and services tax with the former seven-per-cent provincial sales tax into one 12-per-cent value-added tax.
The HST has been a huge political headache for the B.C. Liberals ever since it was introduced in July 2009, less than three months after the Liberals won their third straight B.C. election.
The uproar over the HST prompted a provincewide repeal petition campaign led by former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm. More than 500,000 British Columbians signed the petition, forcing a referendum next month that asks voters if they want to repeal or keep the HST.
Former premier Gordon Campbell announced his early retirement last November — 18 months into his third term — practically admitting he had become the public face of the HST and the government couldn't move forward until he left office."
I hope Norman Bates, errrrrr Dalton McGuinty is paying attention for once in his term. :rant:
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...YDO0WxX--05tx7
I wonder if Ontario laws would a allow a referendum to could get this thing reversed too? Or maybe a petition has already been started? :icon_scratch: