Gregory Thomas: To fix the HST, Christy Clark should follow Stephen Harper's example

Premier Christy Clark says she is going to fix the harmonized sales tax for B.C. families and she says she is going to fix it before the end of May. We can’t wait.

And we’re hopeful, if not optimistic, that she won’t screw it up.

At the B.C. Liberal convention last weekend in Penticton, the premier said the government is considering a number of improvements to the HST.

“They are going to be bold,” she told delegates. “They are going to be smart, and they are going to focus on the families of this province. They will also work within our balanced budget commitments. So stay tuned—change is coming to the HST.”

The premier needs to be bold. She faces the same challenging circumstances that destroyed the federal Progressive Conservative government of Kim Campbell in 1993: a deeply unpopular new tax and an electorate profoundly mistrustful of the party in power. Voters were willing to give Canada’s first female prime minister a chance—early in the campaign, polls showed her in the lead—but they wanted to see a fundamental change of direction. They wanted her to prove she was the boss and prove she was different.

It was 13 years before a new Canadian leader met the test, but Stephen Harper closed the deal with Canadian voters, first by promising to cut the GST from seven percent to six percent, to five percent and then by delivering on that promise.

Bold. Savvy. And best of all, simple.

B.C. voters have had it with politicians, economists, accountants, and other people in suits telling us how the HST is too complicated for ordinary mortals to understand.

The HST should not be complicated. Everybody already understands that under the HST, more stuff is taxed than under the old provincial sales tax. But in other provinces where the HST was successfully introduced, they dropped the rate so that taxpayers didn’t pay for the new system through the nose.

In B.C., the government decided instead to tell us how complicated everything is and nail every family in the province for roughly $350 in additional tax.

It’s been nearly two years since Gordon Campbell and his minister of finance blundered into this divisive HST war by creating complications where none existed.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation urged them then to follow Harper’s example, by dropping the rate from seven percent to five percent. Back then, we listened to Campbell’s minister of finance explain they couldn’t cut the rate—that a one percentage point reduction in the HST would cost the B.C. government $850 million in lost revenue. Then last weekend, Christy Clark’s minister of finance repeated the same argument, of course adding that it’s very complicated.

British Columbia’s HST is complicated because the Campbell government made it complicated. They bolted on nine different loopholes, rebates, exemptions and credits to the existing GST, at a price tag of $942 million in lost revenue.

On the weekend, Christy Clark’s ministers boldly followed Gordon Campbell’s ministers, proclaiming that 1.2 million low-income families are now receiving cheques. These cheques add up to as much as $920 a year for a low-income family of four, thanks to the HST. That’s just one $214 million B.C. Liberal experiment in social engineering.

There are eight more.

Booksellers, new home builders, university presidents—anybody with a talented lobbyist in Victoria—managed to convince Gordon Campbell that they should get a break on the HST, while the rest of us should pay more.

If Christy Clark wants to fix the HST for B.C. families, she should consider Stephen Harper’s simple solution, cut the HST for everyone and make a bold, smart break with the past.

Gregory Thomas is the British Columbia communications director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Comments

10 Comments

Amelia Farrell

May 18, 2011 at 9:59pm

Rubbish

Taxpayers R Us

May 18, 2011 at 11:52pm

How about getting rid of it altogether?

We're already ridiculously overtaxes and it's getting worse.

RonS

May 19, 2011 at 6:04am

This is just another attempt to keep a tax that benefits only the rich and elite. Whether it's $200 Mil or $100 Mil a month that's going into to the pockets of the rich corporations doesn't matter. The fact is none of it is going into education, Medical Services Plan or towards social services and government services. It's going into the black hole of corporate profits and out of the province. Nice try Greg - but no cigar.

ditchdigger

May 19, 2011 at 9:16am

Don't ever trust a government or corporate neighbour or Federation that lies to you.
Clark took over from Gordo, but she and all the other current MLA's and Ministers were involved in the original scam to lie to taxpayers about the HST in order to win the election.
No matter what the neo-Lieberals come up with for "improving" the HST, don't fall for it. Government needs tax revenue to pay for public services and infrastructure that we all use. This includes the business sector, who now pay billions less per year into the pot, irresponsibly using what they refuse to pay for.

Barney Fife

May 19, 2011 at 10:07am

Stephen Harper's simple solution?. Give us a break, pal. Harper is the one who implemented the HST along with Campbell & BC Liberals.

Dan in Van

May 19, 2011 at 2:33pm

How about lowering the liquor taxes so everyone can enjoy a glass of wine without breaking the bank?

Vancouver 2011

May 19, 2011 at 5:58pm

Reducd HST to 10% is the best choice.

Taxpayers R Us

May 20, 2011 at 5:53am

@Vancouver 2011

I think you mistakenly added a "1" in front of that zero ;)

pplagHST

May 24, 2011 at 12:52pm

All politicians are liars. They know it, you know it!!!!!!!!!!! They really don't care about the taxpayers. They get nice pensions while you and I save and save for an RSP, but hard to do so because we are so highly taxed. If they cared about anything HST wouldn't have happened to begin with, nor PST, and GST should have been gone a long time ago. Perhaps they can't or don't want to do their jobs they are paid so nicely to do.

I guess when you have a nice paycheque HST doesn't bother the wallet.

Trying to figure it out

Jun 2, 2011 at 10:11am

If you are unsure as to how to vote on in the HST referendum you only have to look at how the independents voted on it in the legislature on Tuesday.

After months of aligning with the "fight HST" camp and bashing the liberal government at every turn, independent and non partisan mla Vicki Huntington apparently now sees that changes including a 2% cut to the tax indeed reflect the wishes of the people.