The Hook

Manitoba NDP Also Serious About HST

"A spokeswoman for Manitoba Finance Minister Greg Selinger said the province is looking at the offer.

"We will be giving this some serious review," she said."

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/manitoba-serious-about-new-tax-52508667.html

What a Joke.

Viva la BC Visionistas - A New Way to Govern.

Should be called the OST

The timing is too perfect for this not to be called the "Olympic Sales Tax."

Premier Defends HST

Campbell is going to work with people in those sectors where this tax will be difficult...??? Like he worked with us over the Sea to Sky and the Olympics? Like we were involved in cuts to health, education, senior and social services?? Just how stupid does he think we are? Well...we were pretty stupid for not voting or voting for him....but no more. Time for neighborhoods and communities to form steering committees to find out which builders, farmers, mechanics, barbers, etc. will go under the table with the people of this province so that most of us can continue to live here. Also... TD economist Derek Somedorkorother supports HST as good for business so all dealing at TD may want to look into the politics of other financial institutions with a view to changing where they do business. It is time for ACTION...people...so we are well prepared for next July. Also...there has to be someway to recall this government. Anybody out there able and willing to get a serious movement happening?

VAT Rates

Interesting that Manitoba is also going to implement the HST. Equally interesting is how the socialist utopia of Denmark, the symbol of All That is Good for Lefties, has a VAT of 25%.

France 19.6%

UK 15%

Belgium 21%

As for general strikes and local steering committees, yeah, right.

What goes along with those VAT rates?

This subject and the comparison between the HST and the VAT has already been covered...they are different animals operating in an entirely different social and economic context.

Along with high value added taxes I assume the proponents of such a methodology are also sanguine about what goes along with them.

Certainly, if Gordon Campbell and his acolytes and Pee Wee and his are willing to adopt, for example, the taxation protocols (and the societal changes) that go along with a high value added tax regime I'd be more than happy to laud their change of heart.

For example, High income earners (on average at least 3 times the pay of the average industrial worker) in Denmark pay a top marginal rate of 63.1%; in Belgium it's 59.6% and in Sweden 56.1%...

Just for the readers' information, Canada's top marginal rate of tax is currently 46.4%...

Folks should be careful what they wish for.

Garth, Tax Cut Crusader!

Hey, I am all in favour in social programmes but they have to be paid for. See the above tax rates? That is what pays for the comprehensive social welfare of the above mentioned states. It is truly comical seeing you, Garth, as a champion of lower taxes!

Garth, get working on your 2013 campaign. You can run on the NDP's promises to cut taxes!

Not at all - please read for comprehension

Not for sound bites.

I'm a tax crusader and I'll support VAT taxes at Denmark's level when we also have the high marginal tax rates they do and the decent social structure that goes with them.

Because, coincidentally, it also happens to be the happiest place on earth....

Well Garth

You really have something to go to the polls with in 2013. Axe the Tax!

Gosh, to hear Gordo will be

Gosh, to hear Gordo will be working with others to sort out his latesr tax grab almost blew me off the chair. Things must not being going well with his usual supportive business folk

Wilfurd

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First off,I don`t believe this tax is revenue nuetrol,and neither does anyone else for that matter(except the Fraser institute)...But be that as it may.....

According to Campbell and Hansen,this tax is revenue nuetrol,no extra money for goverment..........
So Wilfurd,before you start advocating for more social program spending,you better find a different tax to pay for it.

If it`s revenue nuetrol to goverment,and it`s a 2 billion dollar tax shift from LARGE INDUSTRIAL BUSINESS to consumers,then the need for social programs will expand,and this tax,according to Hansen,won`t provide the revenue to do it.

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Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Quarry

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Take your concern to the polls in 2013.

The website is a disaster. Perhaps they should hire a web designer who knows what what they are doing.

Or maybe you can do it, right, Quarry?

"His" HST?

Then how come I (and all other taxpayers) get socked paying for it? And how come he lied about it if it's so great? Because he would have lost the election (and you know he would). This is pathetic. I'm getting taxed to death because I earn too much to be poor, and I'm too poor for the tax to not matter. And I'm not alone. I qualify for no rebates. I suspect most readers are in the same boat.

Wilfurd the english teacher......

Well,you got me Wilfurd,I don`t use spellcheck.......

Changing the subject are we........

I have a real problem with Campbell trying to do things without consent,or as I like to reference......

Campbell has no authority to engage in...

Antidisestablishmentarianism by changing tax code,attacking the charter and fundamentally altering our rights and "super natural BC"

The HST will spell the end of Campbell and the BC Liberal party,so I embrace the tax just for that reason.

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Powell River Perp

What's your response to the following?

Ontario is going to a higher 13% HST. The ONDP has a 50,000 signature petition against the HST yet the NDP is now at a lowly 12% in Ontario and the Lieberanos are well ahead of the pack at 45% as of last week.

Why is that?

And now the Manitoba NDP government is also considering joining the HST club.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/08/05/mb-harmonized-tax-manitoba.html

Why is that?

And the Nova Scotia NDP agreed to keep the HST except take the PST portion only off electrical bills.

Why is that?

Viva la BC Visionistas! A new way to govern.

Powell river persuader is the name.....

I embrace this tax for one reason only.

The reason any province might or will adopt the new taxes is for but one reason,their broke!

Stelmach (Alberta premier must be rolling over laughing)

The reason I embrace this tax is in this column,read it carefully.....

http://www.timescolonist.com/business/could+cost+Liberals+next+election/1861549/story.html

and this one......

http://www.timescolonist.com/business/Harmonized+slams+into+wall+opposition/1861471/story.html

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

@Herman

The RST or as we call it the PST is 7 % in BC........

But the PST or what they call it in Ontario ..The RST is 8%.........

So 8%RST and 5%GST adds up to 13%....

So for Campbell to say we will have the lowest HST in Canada is a red herring.......

More to come

Actually, Quarry

The government was legally and constitutionally elected. They have the right to govern. They are doing so. If you do not like the government's policy, you are free to vote to vote for whomever you wish.

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Tax rates in Saskatchewan....

If Saskatchewan adopts the HST tax system........

Their rate would a 10% HST rate,the reason,their PST rate is a mere 5%.....

5% PST plus 5%GST would add up to a HST rate of 10%.......

Which would make Campbell`s statement of the lowest HST rate in Canada,LAUGHABLE.....

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My neighbor voted for Campbell,he has for years,he has vowed to never ever vote for a BC Liberal again,he`s furious over the tax,but he`s even madder about being deliberately lied to........

P.S. Can`t wait until august 17th.....The grand opening for the Canada line and,the day all the Emails from Campbell/Kinsella and about a hundred other goverment insiders former and present have to be given to the BC SUPREME COURT.......

Cheers

Puffed-up Wilf

If you're going to gloat about your literacy, you might want to proofread:

...free to vote to vote (sic) for whomever...

Oh Wilfurd.......

You probably missed this post from BC Mary.......

She has the whole Judge Bennett affidavit posted,with all the names of the people who have to turn over Emails,a very impressive list,quite detailed.....

Have a glance,prepare your eyes to pop out of their sockets.....

http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Thanks Otis......

Budda bing budda boom

I am sorry,I never went to school,self taught,well I did complete to grade 7.......
My dad,the smartest man in the world,he taught me well......

He taught me to think

Cheers

If Saskatchewan adopts the HST tax system........

They haven't. They probably will, but not as of yet.

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Oh Wilfurd........

I of course,have been tested,IQ wise.......

And ahem.......I qualify for MENSA

A journeyman Carpenter,ticketed.

Top of my class in grade school.

And could out debate you in my sleep,and.....

I`m quite modest

Cheers

Well

"Top of my class in grade school."

Well, being top of the seventh grade is quite an accomplishment. And you do certainly raise the intellectual bar for this site, Quarry

Does Mr Campbell take us for imbeciles?

Oh, please! If it was that great, why did he lie and deny plans to implement it during the election campaign, when British Columbians had the opportunity to let him know exactly what they thought of his phony claims?

Just as it often happens on

Just as it often happens on this site, the origional story gets pushed aside as a couple of folks keep telling each other just how dumb the other one is compared to himself.

Democracy

Let Mr. Campbell expound his understanding of democracy and then defend it like a doctoral student defending his thesis i.e. take questions which he must answer.I would ask him (a) how we can have an "election" in which unpleasant news is concealed until well after the "election"(b) what is his understanding of the role of ethics/honesty in government (c) whether he remembers that the role of government is to serve all the people (d) how a law respecting citizen can be designated a "person of interest",with no accounting whatsoever,while he,Mr. Campbell, possessing a conviction albeit in a foreign jurisdiction, can be premier (e) why no government official will explain the legal foundations for this designation to the person so designated (f) why this person's MLA will not respond to requests for clarification of the "person of interest" designation.Incidentally this MLA is under numerous investigations for unethical behaviour while occupying a position of public trust viz. a mayor's chair.Presumably neither the Premier nor this MLA has been designated a "person of interest" as both sought and won !!! a seats in the B.C. legislature. Like the Emails/B.C. Rail matter, the HST presents a question of fundamental democratic principle rather than a simple question of taxation.Remember inequitable treatment of the tiers etat i.e.the commom people and taxes which they saw as unjust such as the corvee, helped bring down the ancien regime of France. Aux armes with the NDP and Mr. VanderZalm!(metaphorically speaking ,Sergeant Nelson, in case you read "The Tyee".)

Not So Sorry For Liberal Donors!

This government promised during the election campaign that put them into power eight years ago to respect existing union contracts, then within months of gaining power tore up agreements and imposed their own agreements. Hospital workers, teachers and other groups could attest to what an election statement or promise given by the B.C. Liberals and Gordon Campbell is worth. So the property developers and restaurant owners got it in writing that the Liberals weren't considering HST, donated to their campaign and then watched the announcement of HST come down two months after the election. Did the long-standing political divide between right and left in B.C. lead the business community to feel that such outright lies were justified when wielded against unions, but that their party of choice would never turn such deceit on them? I will admit that I am one of those whose contract was torn up at the start of the Liberals' first mandate, so it is fairly difficult to read the comments of developers, restaurant owners and others who will be impacted by this tax. Right wing or left one adage remains incredibly apt...Lie down with dogs and you wake up with fleas!

Recall or revolt GC

Liberals will ONLY pocket the money. Gordo should be removed. Its not so much that there maybe a new higher tax, its that it won't be spent on health care, education, helping seniors have a reasonable life, or getting the poor and disabled a life that doesn't resemble punishment for living. If the money went back to provide for the people of BC it wouln't be so bad BUT IT WON'T

The other provinces

The provinces of Ontario and Manitoba have PST on many more products than BC.
They already charge PST on most items that have GST. (Cigarettes, bottled beverages, snack foods, chocolate bars, etc.) A convenience store in BC with average sales currently collects and submits around $500 a month in PST. The same store in Manitoba / Ontario will collect and submit $5000 or more. The people in these provinces will typically only be affected by the tax on services.

Gordo needs to go!

Why hasn't Campbell been forced to step down after being implicated. Campbell has been caught in his lies over, and over and over again but it remains the same because Gordo controls are justice system just like he controls his drinking.
How can you leave someone in office who has been implicated by his aids of manipulating the media, drunk driving and low down dirty dealing.
Do you leave the premier in office to ensure the one man show screws with your heads and justice system with the help of Canwest? How does that work get the lying dirt bag criminal to get to the truth of the situation himself as yet another Attorney General bites the dust? You got to be kidding and its why the case is still cold despite the BC Legal System being heavily involved. The only thing harmonized about the tax is the majority of British Columbians wish it would go away, along with the Liberals.

Did you know Manitoba's get a rent rebate?

And rents are a whole lot cheaper and so is the cost of living and doing business so comparing the costs of selling a quart of milk or a loaf of bread with Manitoba is like comparing Campbell with a Saint. Whats the cost of a loaf of bread in Saskawtchewan $5.00? A loaf of bread is pretty close to that in BC? How does BC, the province with the highest cost of living and the highest taxes compare itself to the other provinces, it can't, it's a no HST win.

I work in the restaurant

I work in the restaurant industry. It's already been a bad year as people tighten their belts and stay home more in the recessionary climate.

I wonder how adding an additional 7% to the price of a meal will 'stimulate' things.

It should also be noted that as little as two months before the election, Campbell went on record as saying he would NOT introduce an HST. Par for the course I suppose. Check out this week's cover story in the Georgia Straight.

Average wages in

Average wages in Saskatchewan passed British Columbia in December and are now the third-highest in Canada, behind only Alberta and Ontario. The cost of living is also a great deal less expensive than living in BC.

"We have reduced income tax so that Saskatchewan workers get to keep more of the money they work hard to earn," Norris said. "We have provided a $500-million ‘economic booster shot' of infrastructure investment to generate jobs and economic activity in our province.

More people working in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan recorded a 16,600 increase in the number of people working, with a jump of 3.3 per cent in January 2009 compared January 2008.

How about BC?

Less people working in BC.
Canada reached its highest employment number last September, a month after B.C. Since then B.C. — with job losses of 35,000 in January and 22,600 in March — “has taken a harder hit” than the other provinces, Pastrick said.

Since September, the number of people employed in B.C. has dropped 3.3 per cent, compared to 2.1 per cent in Canada, 1.7 per cent in Alberta and even outpacing Ontario — with its struggling auto and manufacturing sector — which lost 2.7 per cent of its jobs between September and March, he said.

Because “the nature of the recession is fairly broad-based,” all age groups and industries in the province have been affected, Pastrick said.

Central 1’s latest labour forecast is much gloomier than the predictions it made in January as unemployment is predicated to be closer to 9%.

3.3 read it and weap

Apparently all those big talkers who talked about the enconomy and how increasing the minimum wage in BC would hurt business were oh so wrong, as its the high cost of those killer rents and not paying workers a living wage that is killing business. 3.3 jobless in bc while 3.3 jobs increased in Sask and this is after a pay increase.