Delta BC – Former BC Premier and Leader of the Fight HST group, Bill Vander Zalm, is calling on the Bloc Quebecois to withdraw support for the HST in BC, and to abstain from voting completely. He has made a similar request to Liberal Leader, Michael Ignatieff, asking him to allow only Liberal MPs in BC to vote on the controversial tax proposal that polls show is opposed by over 85% of British Columbians.
“We have sent formal requests to the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, and Leader of the Bloc Quebecois, asking that they reconsider their positions on this hated sales tax for BC,” said Vander Zalm.
“We have asked that Prime Minister Harper and Opposition Leader Ignatieff allow only their BC MPs to vote on this issue, and that it be a free vote to reflect the wishes of their constituents.”
“We have asked Mr. Duceppe to have his MPs abstain from voting on this issue altogether, since implementation of the HST in BC is relevant only to British Columbians, and has no bearing on Quebec,” Vander Zalm explained.
Vander Zalm said that the only federal party that has so far come out in opposition to the HST is the NDP, led by Jack Layton. Vander Zalm pointed out that the recent by-election win in New Westminister/Coquitlam by the NDP was directly related to their strong opposition to the HST.
Vander Zalm says opposition to the HST in BC is growing, not diminishing as the BC Liberals had hoped. He says that it would be grossly unfair for MPs from other parts of Canada, like Quebec and Ontario, being used to support a tax in BC that is so strongly opposed by the vast majority here.
“Prime Minister Harper has said it is a provincial decision. We agree. Let the people of BC decide this issue for themselves with their own MPs in a free vote. We believe that is the only fair and democratic way to resolve this issue,” concluded Vander Zalm.
Vander Zalm has promised to post the names of every BC MP on his Fight HST group’s web site, with a record of how each Member voted on the HST. The names will also be given to local media for publication at election time to remind voters how their MP voted on the HST.
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No, no, no!
I am opposed to the HST as I feel it is just another means for the Federal politicians to obtain more power over us. If we do indeed have to have this tax then this is my suggestion to retain our individualism. Let our province do the collecting and then submit to the Federal Government the GST portion collected. The Federal government will pay us a fee for collecting the tax, not us paying them. We will retain control of the books and will know how much we are collecting and we will retain the payrolls within our own province. Why should we move these payrolls out to Ottawa or some other location back east. We need the jobs here in BC. We also could use the fees. And just in case we ever seperate we need the infastructure in place to collect our own taxes. We will be in a position to tell Ottawa what to do, not subservient to them as we will be under the present plan. Give it some thought. BJB.
We want to vote against HST. NO! NO! NO!
we want to say NO to H.S.T