Credibility

Anyone can hire a stooge to do their dirty work, and the team of Campbell and Hansen found theirs in Prof. Mintz. The only credible about his report are his incredulous assertions.

whiskey river

Your best work to date. Thanks.

Mintzed words

MIntz obviously will write what anyone pays him to. As in reccomending a oil and gas royalty reductions in Alberta in order to get procucers working again. Why wouldn't he encourage BC and Saskatchewan to move up with Alberta to keep a level playing field? Most producers are very top heavy so cuts in the top floor would be more to the point. Meanwhile back on the HST, would his writings be subject to HST or just GST as I assume he lives in Alberta. Even Campbell will try to avoid the HST by purchasing out of province. Just one more Alberta advantage brought to you by BC's liberals.

High praise indeed

Thanks Zalm.

The point being is....After 10 months of the HST proposal,if this is the very best Gordon Campbell can come up with to convince us..

It means the HST truly is a fraud.

Incidentally, it was announced yesterday that the Chevron refinery in Burnaby is laying off 250 employees,and, over the next year Chevron announced curtailing spending by $1 billion dollars.

Haven`t they heard, all is good,the HST is coming to BC...Shouldn`t they be hiring?

The fact is friends, hiring,jobs,commodity prices are what drives those things,if copper prices fall,zinc prices fall,lumber prices fall, the HST will mean nothing.
The case hasn`t been made.

And I will leave you with this, our world competitors for natural resource sales, if BC started attracting the extractors from other countries, what would stop those other countries from uping the ante, they go lower,such as the fools game with the movie industry tax credits..Started again by who?
By Dalton Mcguinty(Ontario Liberal Premier) ...The race to the bottom.

Cheers

I always thoughts that the Liberals were illusionists!

Abra ca dabra!

David Schreck's take has holes in it.

Doesn't take a PhD to see the holes in the Mintz report. Many of the positions taken by Mintz are questionable.

But then Schreck himself has in the past been totally blind to reality. He was a political hack during the Glen Clark government and during the days of the Fast Cat fiasco. One wonders if he charged his PhD neurons during that time and told Clark the fallicy of the project.

But then again he was front and centre to a leadership campaign to Ujjal who ended up being premier for a short time, and then dedcided to jump ship and swim over to the federal Liberals.

and the NDP supporters? WOnder how they will react if the NDP is elected government and the HST is still there? The NDP has never stated they would remove the HST once elected.

But enjoy the propaganda from both the Liberals and the NDP kids.

After the first paragraph...

...which sounds quite rational in tone the writer goes back to the same old tactic. All the rest of the piece is about the slamming the writer of the article for positions taken a decade ago. Really relevant stuff and the kind of thing I would not expect even from a student in junior high school. I haven't missed that for a while.

Common sense tells you that once the HST is in place it will be very difficult to repeal it. On can only tinker with the number of items taxed or find ways to make it less of a burden on the average person. It is like Free Trade. Getting out is not as easy as avoiding it in the first place. That doesn't mean it is a good thing, it means you have to play the hand dealt.

That is why you have Bill VanderZalm and the Fight HST campaign going on now. My kid understands that.

Please BC Boy

Where are the holes?

I don't see a single point of argument in your post - either in support of the HST and Mintz's claims or in opposition to Schreck's reasoning.

That's actually what 'debate' and argument is all about.

BC Boy

[COMMENT DELETED. -MODERATOR.]

Apology.

I made the mistake of responding to BC Boy's post above in a rational way. Unfortunately we see another attempt by him to hijack this discussion by bringing in a lot of irrelevant issue that have nothing to do with David Schreck's article. It is impossible to carry on a discussion with someone who when told his references are decades old and irrelevant, comes up with more references decades old thinking that is a rebuttal. So let us all agree that his posts are not worth a response. It is like debating with a 5th grader in any event. Call it my news years resolution regardless of what he tries to call it. I'm starting to miss R/man and Wilf.

Skywalker

I don't disagee.

Send me an email if you have a moment:

Welcome to BC.....

Land of Supernatural illusions!

Lots of 5th graders in here.

"I made the mistake of responding to BC Boy's post above in a rational way. Unfortunately we see another attempt by him to hijack this discussion by bringing in a lot of irrelevant issue that have nothing to do with David Schreck's article."

oh? What about the author himself? Schreck has quite a political pundit record.

"It is impossible to carry on a discussion with someone who when told his references are decades old and irrelevant, comes up with more references decades old thinking that is a rebuttal. "

Oh? and the constant going on about Campbell and
what he did quite a few years ago?

"So let us all agree that his posts are not worth a response."

Sure. But you already responded so where does that place you?

"It is like debating with a 5th grader in any event."

Sure. Some of the comments from the left wingers here wouldn't pass 5th grade.

Call it my news years resolution regardless of what he tries to call it. I'm starting to miss R/man and Wilf.

Boo hoo.

Listen Clyde. This is supposed to an opinion column for all points of view, right and left. If you don't like what I write, don't respond to it,
as your friend Garth West has attested to many time

Jack Mintz

Jack Mintz has zero crediblity, bringing up past CRIMINAL OFFENCES are relevant,they are relevant on job applications,bond issues.

And credibilty,the fact that Gordon Campbell is EDITED FOR LEGAL CONCERNS -- TYEE EDITOR

Jack Mintz`s own words prove that.

BC Boy, na na na na na is not much of an argument,but standard fare for the few remaining BC Liberal supporters.

And a word of advice, it`s becoming quite tiresome reading duplicate posts when you take everyone`s ENTIRE POST and fill in with a na na na na na.

One goes with the other

"Jack Mintz has zero crediblity, bringing up past CRIMINAL OFFENCES are relevant,they are relevant on job applications,bond issues."

And so is the history of the applicant, sport. In this case, I was pointing out to the left wingers,
Schreck's adventures within the Glen Clark government and his activities with the Dosanjh leadership campaign.

"And credibilty,the fact that Gordon Campbell is an Habitual Liar, which has been proven in court,such as the HEU supreme court case,selling BC Rail,HST lie,deficit lie,and cheating on his ex-wife Nancy(IMO and everyone in the province opinions)."

A half point awarded there.

"So when Gordon Campbell ultimately appears before a judge in an honest court,anything a Proven Compulsive Liar Gordon Campbell states in a court can be dismissed, you lie once in court,the courts have the ability to assume that any testimony from a proven Habitual Liar can be dismissed as lies."

Has Campbell appeared in front of a BC Court yet?
Cite?

"So for BC Boy to say that bringing up Gordon Campbell`s crimes is the same thing,it is not the same thing.Apples to Oranges!"

Not exactly, junior. The tie in between the two is
historical fact, not the particular subject in isolation.

"Whether or not you agree with David Shreck`s past political affiliation has no bearing at all on his assessment of Jack Mintz mis-reprensentation and flip flop on the HST."

Probably, but Schreck's assessement is also one sided, since Schreck is left wing, and it doesn't
take a Fourth year political science student to figure out that he wouldn't accept anything from the BC Liberals.

BC Boy, na na na na na is not much of an argument,but standard fare for the few remaining BC Liberal supporters."

Sorry, wrong there.

And a word of advice, it`s becoming quite tiresome reading duplicate posts when you take everyone`s ENTIRE POST and fill in with a na na na na na.

Word of advice. Wise up and forgo the "na na na" comments that are best left for the school year in elementary school.

and also get busy to help the NDP. They will need it in huge amounts.

Are we alone?

Something that David Schreck did not include in his aricle was a comment on the other successful jurisdictions in the world that have a tax similar to our PST.
I suspect that the list will be very short as it is generally recognized that such a tax is counter productive.

BC Boy

Well well well...We now know who BC Boy is.

Alex G Tsakumis. ...The enemployed ex journalist.

Yea, I should have figured it out sooner.

The lack of quality was this first giveaway.

AGT

I meant to say, BC Boy is Alex G Tsakumass, The Unemployed ex Journalist.

I mis-spelled unemployed.

Oops

AGT? Who is he?

"I meant to say, BC Boy is Alex G Tsakumass, The Unemployed ex Journalist.

I mis-spelled unemployed.

Oops"

Not only that, you're way off. Who is Tsakumaass?

Ain't him.

Left wingers are soo stupid..

Well BC Boyyyyy

I don`t believe you..But you said one correct thing,"Who is Tsakumass?"

He is a nobody, a foul-mouthed hack who used to get paid, but NOT NO MORE.

One more thing AGT(I mean BC BOY)...For someone so familiar with Schreck,Clark,past governments,Vanderzalm,opinion pieces.

You should know who Alex G Tsakumass once was.

Rye Whiskey River

You are awesome man. You have chutzpah. Maybe we should run you as party leader for the NDP - because Carole James is a schmoe, a real meschugena.

But it's also polite to always get someone's name right.

"BC Boy is Alex G Tsakumass"

It's Tsakumis - not Tsakumass - not Tsatsiki - not even the Tzatziki on your souvlaki.

Herman

You forgot Tsnami.go up 6 comments.

Method to the.......

Good to get someone's name right even when its wrong.

Very laughable. Sorry boys, I'm not this Alex that you are led to believe.

But goo on someone coming to their senses and getting a hated person's last name right after several attempts.

But to the poster who would pick Schreck over Jack Minz. They're both academics, Schreck socialist and Minz most likely conservative.

So a left winger picking Schreck over Minz who has no attributed record in BC politics isn't fourth year nuclear physics.

Take your pick who to bend over for if that is what rows your boat.

If you like Schreck, sign into Schreck's Fan Club
page on his website.

Next thing to discover is that this is an open opinion column, not one solely the territory of The Left Wingies who long for the next NDP convention.

But doesn't matter. The opinion columns written here in the Tyee and other online papers are just entertainment, not really critical reading.

Amaing how the left wingers can be baited and then hooked like a tired coho like the left wingers writing here.

the NDP back in the 1980's was more challenging and fun to debate than this lousy group of left wingers, some of whom write as if they have had one too many Luckys.

Bwaaahahahahaaaa!

That's a lot of fun, Whiskey River. I can see BC Boy as the nom de plume of Tsakumis.... if you beat Tsakumis severely about the head to within an inch of his life, taser him a few times, hold him under water until the brain damage sets in fully, fish him out, taser him a few more times in the head, and then put him on a steady diet of potato chips and RC Cola with the occasional beer or spirits on Saturday nights in front of the blue glow in his mother's basement for a few years....

Tsakumis may be a rude and selfish little prat, but he doesn't have this kind of brain damage. BC Boy is Elliott the Iddiott come back to haunt us.

But if you want, you can let your karma run over his dogma.

Geez BC Boy..You even spell bad like AGT

Well well well,so Jack Mintz has no BC affiliation.Really.

Jack Mintz needs more than corrections,Jack Mintz needs to retract and offer up an apology for the bullcrap!
When flawed reports are printed as truth when all they are is bafflegab retractions are in order!But,don`t expect no apologies from desperate BC Liberals,expect more fibs and false innuendos.

According to Forbes.com..Jack Mintz-As director of Imperial oil in 2008 received $69 thousand in fees and $138 thousand in stock awards.

Last year Jack Mintz urged the Alberta Government to reduce oil royalties.

According to Forbes.com...Jack Mintz as director of Brookfield asset management in 2008-Received $124 thousand in stock awards.

Brookfield asset management owns WFP Western Forest Products..Brookfield management and Western Forest Products donated over $100 thousand dollars to the BC Liberals the year Gordon Campbell illegally gave away Crown land tree farm licenses and called them private land to WFP...To which those properties are and have been put up for sale,sale for development,not logging.

If that isn`t an affiliation to BC Politics I don`t know what is! Jack Mintz is not one`s opinion that is worth diddly squat!

Next!

Jack Mintz and imperial oil

How could this be anything but a conflict of interest?

http://andrewmcintyre.ca/2010/02/25/albertas-royalties-conventional-wisdom-and-conflicts-of-interest/

More conflict with Jack Mintz

For goodness sakes..Jack Mintz sit on so many boards of giant corporations...How could it not be a conflict of interest.

He wrote a 14 page report urging to give massive tax breaks to companies which he sits on the board..

How could it be anything but a conflict?

http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Alberta+royalty+regime+ranks+last+says+report/2610132/story.html

small business vs big business on HST

I won't be surprised to see a lot of small-business participation in the anti-HST petition, particularly in small town BC. Very much parallel to the Zalm-Tieleman linkage.

Our tiny local Chamber of Commerce recently noted how the BC Chamber mostly represents the interests of large corporations over those of small or micro-businesses, and the BC Chamber's support for the HST reflects this.

btw Dan, in many small towns, the restaurants are mom-and-pop operations without many staff, if any. Their role in the fragile economies of the boonies makes their surival important to all of us. Same with the tiny tourism operators.

And in terms of political affiliations, our local poll voted over 90% NDP in the last provincial election if I remember correctly. So don't assume that all business owners are Liberal supporters ;-)

Schreck is quite correct !

My political philosophy is largely centre right, and indeed did vote for the BC Liberals.

However, the BC Liberals have without question have done an admirable job of lying to the people on so many fronts, have produced totally flawed budgets, have brought in budget cuts that really to not make any sense, that if there are any BC Liberal supporters remaining, I would be very surprised.

The single most irritating thing to people is the HST issue. HST in my mind just does not make any sense at this time, nor have the BC Liberals provided any logical justification, other than to reap some money from the Feds. Now, they say they will only get a bit from the feds.

Schreck is correct when he says that the BC Liberals should have done a bunch more realistic studies on the HST issue. Professor Mintz from Calgary is all over the map with his so called analysis.

The various cuts that the BC Liberals have made as compared to capital expenditures and other Liberal spending priorities just do not make any sense. There is zero balance or logic to what they propose.

What I like about David Schrecks work is that what he says is well thought out and he quite accurately produces or provides solid backup.

Will I vote for the BC Liberals again; absolutely NOT. Would I vote for the NDP; Nope!

It would be certainly nice to find a political party that adopted a centralist platform, providing balance to address BCs issues. One that does their homework, and one that does not play favourites.

sdgreen ...the current version of the NDP is centrist

With respect, I think you're tilting at windmills.

If you're not voting Liberal - which is great, and you refuse to vote for the only viable alternative can I blame you and people like you because nothing ever seems to change in this province.

I think we all need to look in the mirror when we consider what's really wrong with this province.

Nobody, repeat nobody, is going to come riding over the horizon and snatch your chestnuts out of the fire.

sdgreen

That's interesting. I'm a left-winger, I don't think Carole James is. That being said I vote for her anyway because she's certainly preferable to Campbell.

You, however, state that she's too left-wing for you to vote for and want something in-between.

In the last election half the voters couldn't find anyone to vote for so they didn't vote at all, something I assume you're contemplating next time around.

Which means the non-voting population will continue to increase and Campbell will continue to get elected.

Now all of that would be neither here nor there and could simply be chalked up to a badly functioning political system.

However, in the last election BCers voted overwhelmingly in favour of the current system of first past the post which inevitably means only two dominant parties.

I think one could honestly pose the question that its hard to figure out what BCers want.

the definition of the Campbell government

Illusion
PR Blitz
Questionable claims
Missed Chance
Overselling the Benefits

Is this article the history of the Campbell government, yes it is!

The cartoon showed up in the

The cartoon showed up in the Victoria Times Colonist

Back to the HST

When Hansen announced that BC was going to adopt the HST, he stated that these following sectors would save these amounts of input taxes:

Construction-$880 million
Transportation-$210 million
Forestry-$140 million
Manufacturing-$140 million
Mining-$80 million.

The various sectors are run by very astute businessmen/women and can only carry on the various business ventures in a successful manner by knowing the costs of every input from stationary, costs of raw materials etc. With this in mind they should be able to figure out how much their inputs will be reduced by the HST. Therefore they should also be able to give us concrete answers to a couple of very key questions.

Question number one is how much will they be reducing their rates by.

Question number two is how many more people will they be hiring.

We've heard from many economists, politicians and arm-chair quarterbacks how great the HST will be for BC, but only in generalities.

Theories are fine to a point, but history is full of failed companies that were created on a theory which subsequently fell by the wayside because their theory turned out to be nothing more than a pipe dream.

WHERE ARE THE HARD FACTS?