By Yolande Cole June 1, 2010
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and his finance minister, Colin Hansen, faced a grilling from CKNW talk show hosts on Friday over their HST policy.
Both politicians stuck to their position that they made no promise not to implement a harmonized sales tax policy during the election.
“There was no such promise made,” Hansen told radio host Jill Bennett on CKNW.
“When people say that, they’re not being accurate.”
Premier Campbell said that at the time of the election, the HST policy was not on his party’s radar. It was after the election, through discussions with the federal government, that they saw there was a new sales tax regime in place that would allow for a provincially determined HST, he said.
Campbell dismissed rumours that he would be taking a senate appointment from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“I’m really glad to be here and doing this job and I hope to do it for a long time to come,” he said.
CKNW host Jill Bennett asked the finance minister if he was prepared to lose his job over the controversial policy.
“I didn’t go into politics to win a popularity contest,” Hansen told the host.
“I went into politics basically to do what’s right, to make sure that we can build a strong British Columbia for the future, and this is one of the things that do that.”
When pressed again over whether he was prepared to lose his job over the HST, Hansen replied:
“The answer would be yes. If I felt that we weren’t doing the right thing, if I felt that the HST was not going to be a huge benefit for British Columbia, we wouldn’t have done it in the first place,” he said.
“But just because there is as much misinformation about the HST floating around, and that people are signing petitions, doesn’t mean that government should turn around and reverse what is the right decision to do.”
© Copyright (c) The Province
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
Why make another tax when it doesnt have a reason why they made the tax ,will make prices even higher for no reason, dumb government, they dont even watch whats happening out in the world, kids out there poor, hungry, dirty, dying of disease, house is so dirty, cant they take their pride out of them and see whats happening in other countries
I just cringe when a politician says that they are doing the “right” thing when they vote against what their constituents wish. They set themselves up as our parents, as opposed to our elected “voices”. Self-serving statements is what the liberals are giving us…not good government.
You can’t believe anything you hear and read in the news in the province of BC as the reporters are part of the crime.
Ten of thousands of British Columbian are no longer paying income taxes, we have switched to the Barter System. They need a new way to tax us to finance their lifestyles.
Wars and Parties.
Seems very odd to me, Campbell and Hansen, had the HST up and running with Harper, in a very short time frame. They had to have been working on the HST, with Ottawa for months. Sort of like, Campbell wasn’t selling the BC Rail either, seems that was worked on for years. Millions of our tax dollars, are given to, banks, huge corporations, gas and oil company’s. Not only that, they get huge tax reductions, and now the HST to boot. Yes, the underground and the barter systems are cropping up all over BC. Our community will be fully up and running by fall. All we need to buy is, flour, sugar, coffee, tea, salt and pepper, that will be bought from a local store, as well as any other store bought goods, with cash. People are making pacts, not to buy anything that has the HST applied, we prefer to do without. We have, plumbers, roofers, painters, hairdressers, electricians, we have everything we need. The most disgusting thing I heard in the BC Legislature was, Hansen said, if we use wood to help heat our homes, the HST applies. I, in all my years have never seen such a taxing frenzy, the Liberals are rabid for money. They are disgraceful, and the BC people are ashamed of, Campbell, Hansen and the BC Liberals. Ask the old war vets, they say Campbell is a dictator, and a dictator will stoop to anything. Campbell is the one who committed fraud, selling the BC Rail, which was not his to sell. However, the three patsies will take the fall. Campbell, should have been thrown in prison the minute he sold, the peoples asset. When Campbell got his DUI, he should have been bodily thrown out, to the gutter where he belongs.
The lies just keep coming….I’m speechless
I hope that the people who voted liberal in the last election remember what has happened in B.C.. and don,t make the same mistke again.B.C. is the peoples province,not Gordon Campbells playground to do with what he pleases.Politicians should not be wealthy people but average people who have some idea of how it feels to like from paycheck to paycheck,The new flag of B.C. should be the Jolly Roger.
This is from the Vancouver Sun.
June 26th, 2010
HST and You
Tuesday
The average B.C. household will take a hit of $521 to its bottom line next year as a result of the harmonized sales tax, according to a model prepared for the Times Colonist by Statistics Canada.
Wednesday
Twenty-two-year-old server Lacey Geary says she is like many in the restaurant industry. She fears a double whammy — paying more tax and receiving less income — once the HST comes in.
Thursday
Margaret Scott Parry, 81, won’t be hit as hard as some by the new tax, but she is upset the HST will apply to vitamins and therapy. Seniors tell us how they are reacting to the new tax.
Yesterday
Single parents struggling to make ends meet are disheartened the HST will be applied to items like swimming lessons and museum visits. Find out what impact the tax will have on single parents.
Today
Middle-class couples with no children will be among the hardest hit by the HST, according to StatsCan, liable to pay as much as $801 more next year.
Tomorrow
Middle-class families with children under 18 will also be facing higher taxes because of the HST — and unlike their counterparts in Ontario, they are not eligible for rebates.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Series/3205715/story.html#ixzz0rzQ8OLSy
The constitution is gone. Our Civil Rights and Liberties have been taken away. Democracy and freedom, is null and void. BC citizens are governed by a dictatorship. By, a false premier, who lied, deceived and cheated to win. He does not deserve the title of Premier, dictator Campbell, is his appropriate title. Campbell has sold this province out, to China and the USA. Campbell is the cause of, 30.000 mill jobs lost. He shipped mills to China, and our raw logs go there as well. Child labor is cheap, and Campbell loves that. He after all, has the highest number of children living in poverty, in all of Canada. Perhaps, he may start them to work in factories as well, for a dollar a day. There is no depth of his evilness, just when you think, he can’t go any lower, he does. He is forcing himself onto citizens, who despise him, and want him gone. Anything, Campbell, Hansen and the BC Liberals say, is automatically deemed a lie. They are considered the worst government, ever in the history of Canada, and the most despised.