It’s not news that the B.C. forest industry would vote to keep the HST when or if the referendum occurs after the B.C. Liberal leadership race takes place and someone decides what to do about the tax.
There are a plethora of options depending on who is elected by the party on February 26:
- Frontrunner Christy Clark says she’d likely forgo the referendum and put the HST to a vote in the legislature
- George Abbott, Kevin Falcon and Moira Stilwell support the HST, but Abbott and Stilwell would hold an HST referendum as soon as possible and Falcon says he might lower the HST to 10% over time
- Mike de Jong would also get the vote over with as soon as possible and thinks it’s time to start considering alternatives to the HST
- Don Cayo says “the HST is a much less economically damaging way for government to raise money than is the PST it replaced”, a statement most business leaders and economists support
Don who? Okay, so Cayo’s not a leadership candidate although many in the coastal forest industry wish he was. Rather he’s a well read columnist in The Vancouver Sun, known to take thoughtful, level-headed approaches to issues facing the citizens of our province.
In his column today [Wednesday, January 26], Cayo cites two key positions of support for the HST: one from Jack Mintz of the University of Calgary’s public policy school and the other from Gregory Thomas of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
A new paper released this week by Mintz shows that in B.C. and Ontario the introduction of harmonized sales taxes “are milestones for growth prospects in the two provinces.” And according to an article in the Financial Post (January 25), Mintz’s paper illustrates that, “Reversing this step, especially in British Columbia where it is very unpopular, ‘would be investment killing and would cause considerable harm, including losses in employment and hence an erosion in living standards.’”
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation points to the cost of reinstating the old PST, citing duplication as its downfall. As Cayo points out, it would create a need “for duplicate tax collectors, duplicate forms to fill in, duplicate records and rules to follow, duplicate payments and the oversight required.” The Federation is recommending British Columbians say ‘Yes’ to the HST and vote ‘No’ on the PST.
The B.C. coastal forest industry stands by these experts. The HST is saving the B.C. forest industry money that it can reinvest in its mills and machinery, and use to sustain and create jobs. Not to mention, the HST is a deal breaker when it comes to the industry’s ability to compete in the global marketplace and meet China’s low-cost demand.
Posted by coastforest 
