This has truly been a David versus Goliath battle
British Columbians’ rejection of the Harmonized Sales Tax in today’s [August 26] binding referendum is historic and a victory for the people and for democracy in BC, says Bill Vander Zalm, the former BC premier who led Fight HST, the grassroots group that fought the tax.
“British Columbians have not only rejected an unfair tax but they have also sent a message to not just the BC Liberal government, but to all governments in Canada – do not break your word to voters after you get elected. The BC Liberals thought they could get away with imposing the HST after promising not to before the May 2009 election – we proved them wrong twice. We organized the first successful Citizens Initiative petition in Canadian history to force a referendum, gathering 705,643 voter signatures in less than 90 days from every one of BC’s 85 ridings.
“This has truly been a David versus Goliath battle and today the giant HST has been slain,” Vander Zalm said. “It is an enormous victory for the citizens of BC and for democracy.”
Vander Zalm said it is now urgent that the BC Liberal government quickly bring an end to the HST that shifted a $2 billion tax burden onto consumers and off of big business by adding an extra seven percent tax on services and hundreds of items not previously subject to the Provincial Sales Tax.
Vander Zalm said he expects the BC government to refuse to take responsibility for its own actions when it imposed the HST after the May 2009 election and instead paint a picture of economic doom and gloom. “The reality is the BC Liberals looked for a quick fix to their massively out of control deficit in 2009 and refused to honestly tell voters about our financial problems. Premier Christy Clark should learn from former Premier Gordon Campbell’s mistakes and consult with voters about BC’s finances and seek a consensus, not make rash decisions in anger at the rejection of the HST.”
“The BC government needs to skilfully negotiate an end to the HST that takes place quickly and reduces costs to the province for this ill-fated mistake,” he said. “The $1.6 billion ‘grant’ from Ottawa to impose the HST should be pro-rated for the period of time this tax was in place.
Fight HST lead organizer Chris Delaney said the Referendum result would have been an even greater vote for the YES side had Premier Clark kept her promise to fund both sides equally and had spending limits been kept in place as it was for the Initiative process. As it was, our $250,000 less the $25,000 we had to pay in HST out of that was no match for the estimated $25,000,000 spent by government and big business.
Delaney says a precedent has been set with the HST Referendum: “No government, no matter what their political stripe, can ever again create a new tax, expand the tax base or indeed implement a significant new policy without first obtaining the people’s permission through either an election or a referendum. The people have spoken.
“People can debate whether the HST is a good tax or a bad tax, but there was no debate about whether we should have a Referendum or a more robust democracy. That is perhaps the greatest achievement of this whole exercise,” said Delaney.
Vander Zalm said the victory belongs to the people of BC, but most especially to the tens of thousands of volunteers who gave their time, talent and treasure on the Initiative petition that led to the history-making referendum result.
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Source: www.fighthst.ca
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