Summary: B.C. minister briefed on HST before election
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/09/01/bc-hst-documents.html
The article that I read was about how the BC government lied about the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) by claiming that “it was not on their radar” before the provincial election in May 12, 2009. However, there is evidence suggesting otherwise that they had already been discussing and making decisions on it for a long time through government e-mails and in briefing notes. The BC Liberals had already made a deal with the federal government to introduce the tax after winning the election. The federal government agreed to help with the transition with funding. The bureaucrats have also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the HST. The main advantage was that it would improve the economy in the long run which would take at least after five years or longer. However, the disadvantages pointed that it would cause a loss in GDP and an increase in unemployment even though the economy is just slowly starting to heal from the recession.
Connections:
This article connects to the contents in chapter 4 because it is about the Canadian government, taxes, and how the taxes are is used to help citizens with more services. We have quasi federalist system in Canada. The provincial government is responsible for their own province, such as being able to decide on whether or not to impose the HST. Meanwhile, the federal government has to deal with things that affect the whole country, like helping BC with the transition of the HST with funding. The increase in taxes that are imposed could be explained with Wagner’s law of increasing state activity to explain that the government is trying to get the businesses to help the economy by providing more employment through their benefits of the HST. Now we will have to pay 12% in HST rather than our previous GST and PST on our goods and services. Therefore, it has caused many of our goods and services to increase in price due to an increase in the retail service tax. Since most people have middle or low income ranges, it affects them by taking a higher percentage of their income as compared to the people with high income ranges. Thus, it is a regressive tax.
This article connects to the contents in chapter 4 because it is about the Canadian government, taxes, and how the taxes are is used to help citizens with more services. We have quasi federalist system in Canada. The provincial government is responsible for their own province, such as being able to decide on whether or not to impose the HST. Meanwhile, the federal government has to deal with things that affect the whole country, like helping BC with the transition of the HST with funding. The increase in taxes that are imposed could be explained with Wagner’s law of increasing state activity to explain that the government is trying to get the businesses to help the economy by providing more employment through their benefits of the HST. Now we will have to pay 12% in HST rather than our previous GST and PST on our goods and services. Therefore, it has caused many of our goods and services to increase in price due to an increase in the retail service tax. Since most people have middle or low income ranges, it affects them by taking a higher percentage of their income as compared to the people with high income ranges. Thus, it is a regressive tax.
Reflections:
I think most people would be outraged by such a sleazy move on behalf of the BC Liberal party to decide on such an important decision, the HST, behind closed doors when we are supposed to have democracy. Politicians should not lie to its citizens and consult with them on such drastic choices. Anyways, this tax could really cause a hindrance on our slow and steady steps out of recession since it would cause a loss in GDP and could possibly lead to an increase in unemployment. However, it sure sounds good if you look at a future with a more stable economy and improved services by using the extra tax money collected from the HST as Wagner’s law of increasing state activity indicated. My own opinion on this matter is that they should have delayed the tax increase until after the economy stabilizes to a certain point and they should have also asked what the citizens thought about it. This would help avoid the frightening concept of the government doing things behind “closed doors” to materialize. Therefore, it might have been possible that the Harmonized Sales Tax would not have been nicknamed, “the Hated Sales Tax.”
