Vote Yes to Say No to BC HST

I am against the HST for many reasons.

Some people have replied to my tweets "Vote Yes to Say No to BC HST" by telling me I am not making sense, and haven't done my homework, but I have :) Initially, like so many BC'ians, I was outraged at the way it was foisted upon us as a fait accompli. And highly doubtful of the "oh no, it wasn't even on our radar pre-election" line from our then Premier. I suspected either: 

• he's telling the truth, in which case he is so poorly informed and ignorant, as to be utterly incompetent
• he is flat out lying-he obviously knew he intended to "declare" the HST, but didn't want to mention in during the election in case it became an issue and lost him some votes.

I gladly signed the successful petition which has led to this mail in vote. But a lot of time has passed, and as much as I was outraged at the way our Gov't lied to us, I was starting to think 

• well, what's done is done
• governments will always lie
• what difference does it make? One way or the other we'll always have to pay taxes
• it will such a hassle, and so expensive, to go back to PST/GST 

With those thoughts in my mind, I had pretty much decided to support the HST when the time came.

But then, the federal election was upon us, and I decided to get involved in trying to make a difference - to participate in as informed a way as possible. I joined twitter, I read, I studied, I spent all my free time watching CPAC and Supreme court and CBC.  - trying to learn for myself, not just from the odd news headline, what the issues really are, how our Canadian government works, who the candidates were and what I care about. I donated to the candidate of my choice in my riding.

And then something wonderful happened. I found out that being engaged and caring is not an onerous boring responsibility. It's *just as exciting* (dare I suggest) as Canucks in the Stanley Cup playoffs are. As much as I do love hockey, and the spirit and enthusiasm it inspires, I find myself wishing that those enthusiastic fans, would care even a 1/10th as much about democracy and freedom and the future of our country, as they do about professional millionaires playing a game. Man, what a difference that would make!

So, somewhat like a former smoker who has quit and preaches health for all by quitting,  I am a former apathetic who now cares. I want to convince everyone of the importance of being involved in politics. Politics is NOT politicians - it is every citizen. For democracy to work, each one of us has to care enough to learn what we can, to discuss, share, debate, and be involved.  


And that brings us back to the HST in BC. I decided to educate myself enough to form an opinion (to "pick a side") It's really rather amazingly simple to do so nowadays. Everything, every opinion, is on-line somewhere; and lots of people much more informed, much more experienced, much more committed than I, are willing to converse and explain both sides of the issue.


I am no expert in taxation, no expert in politics of any sort; but I have done my homework. And it has led me to the passionate belief that we should "Vote YES to say NO to the HST" 


Have you decided yet? 


For a lot of good info (not paid for by gov't ) one good place to look is the website <www.fightHST.com> Look at the article "Top 18 myths about the HST" That's a good start to find many things to to consider.

But instead of just reading someone else's opinions, why not figure it out for yourself? Spend 10 minutes on the list below, and see how much HST is costing YOU! 


If you believe the HST will save you money, in the form of rebates or lowering rate from 12% to 10% (in 2 years by the way) I urge you to spend 10 minutes to calculate FOR YOURSELF, how much the HST is costing you. All the items in this list were non taxable under the PST/GST scenario; and you now pay 7% tax for each of them. It's really a shocker. The BC gov't promises to send you a HST rebate of $150 a few times/year; but when I did the math, (and I'm not a big spender) the HST is costing me approx $3000/year.

Good luck, puleeze post a comment - would LUV to hear your results from the quiz, and your ideas, comments, opinions both pro/con & questions in general about the HST. 

With glowing heart,

Maggie

The HST Hit List
Check off everything that affects you and write beside it your weekly / monthly / yearly cost for those items - then Multiply by 7% more to see your total HST tax hit!

 Restaurant meals
 Cable TV
 New Homes
 Non-prescription meds
 Telephone
 Internet
 Propane / Natural gas
 Hockey tickets
 Some groceries – Prepared foods
 Hair cuts
 Admission fees
 Membership fees
 Movies
 Theatre
 Bus fares
 Magazines/ newspapers
 Rents /Strata fees
 Taxi fares
 Airline tickets
 Golf fees
 Music lessons
 Skiing
 Spa services
 Massage therapy
 Resort packages
 Parking
 Coffee shops
 Fast food - Beverages
 Dry cleaning
 Car repair & maintenance
 Vitamins
 Dietary supplements
 School supplies
 Photography
 Home maintenance
 Health equipment
 Consulting services
 Storage lockers
 Moorage
 Campgrounds
 RV parks
 Animal feed
 Fishing charters
 Heating fuel
 Naturopathy
 Reflexology
 Veterinarian
 Physiotherapy
 Museums
 Home renovations
 Painting
 Real estate fees
 Bicycles
 Accounting
 Architects
 Legal fees
 Concert Tickets
 Funeral services
 Chinese medicine
 Marketing services
 Safety equipment
 Helmets
 Life jackets
 First aid kits
 Smoke detectors
 Fire extinguishers
 Energy equipment
 Insulation
 Solar power
 Attractions / Events
 
Courtesy of: angryformerbcliberals.ca
www.fightHST.com

List is Subject to change by the BC Liberal Party