Dear Editor
I’m one of the hundreds of people in this province who worked very hard on the HST petition. And here we are with the referendum we worked so hard to get.And all of a sudden, the government is going to play nice and drop the HST from 12 per cent to 10 per cent. Read the fine print in 2014 and let’s also give some of them a rebate that will keep them happy. British Columbians are not stupid - it’s about 1/15th of what we will pay.
Deal or no deal.
I know we have to pay taxes, but everyone should have to pay their fair share.The HST dumps the burden on the everyday working person, families and seniors.
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
I had a conversation the other day with a friend who lives in Kamloops. They have three businesses, a beautiful home, a summer home on the Shuswap and a condo in Hawaii. He was quite concerned if the HST was scrapped he would have to pay six per cent on all the stuff he buys for his businesses. We are good friends and have great political debates. My answer to him was ‘suck it up, princess!’ My 75 year old mother and a lot of other people on fixed incomes, people with disabilities, families, seniors, are paying 12 per cent on things that had no tax before - haircuts, memberships, soccer, swimming passes, camping, strata fees, etc., etc., etc. An elderly friend recently did a prepaid funeral and it’s going to cost her 12 per cent more to die. So let’s vote YES to scrap the HST. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
It may interest you to know that Nova Scotia’s HST went from 13 per cent to 15 per cent July 1, 1010.
Joyce Beddow Buckland
Ashcroft