These idiots might actually get some traction with this one.

There is no one else out there that will do anything about this HST. Sometime you have to make an **unholy alliance** to get something done. This looks like one of those times.

At least we can give James some credit for taking the iniative, most people just sit on their ass and complain.

I strongly suggest that (unless you support the tax) people take the time to write their MLA's, sign a hard copy petition, (if you cant find one make one up and have your friends sign) or sign the above petition on the Internet.

No action gaurantees that we will get this tax shoved down our throats.

HST popularity aside, this is clearly a case of political opportunism. Things are bad enough under the liberals, can you imagine the cock up we would have if the socialists came back to power?
metalman.

the website just went down...right after i submitted my signature!

Remember the massive number of petitions against the GST & the govt basically said "up yours" & did it anyway. Ended the Progressive Conservative party. For the sake of everyone in BC, I hope the Liberals back down on this, it's looking like political suicide.

As much as I dislike the thought of more taxation, the money for our education and health care systems, etc, has to come from somewhere. People can't keep demanding more and more the government and not expect to pay for it.

Socialists back in power??? Better than the Corporate Communists in there now.

The province can neutralize any tax increases of the new HST by simply lowering the HST with a reduction of the provincial sales tax by the appropriate amount.

Make it 10% or 11% instead of 12% and that will do the trick.

Other provinces have done it. So can we. The sky is NOT falling, Carole.

It's true faxman, the money has to come from somewhere, but so much of what they take is wasted.
metalman.

Diplomat wrote ~"The province can neutralize any tax increases of the new HST by simply lowering the HST with a reduction of the provincial sales tax by the appropriate amount."

The Province might be able to "neutralize" some of the growing opposition to the HST by doing that, but the overall tax grab is still going to be larger. And should be opposed, vigorously. For not only are we giving up more of our incomes to be squandered by a self-serving group of Provincial politicians, with this tax we are also giving up our Provincial sovereignty in this area of taxation to a now more powerful Federal government.

I don't see any "reductions" in the rate that will be collected. Campbell has the 2010 Owe-lympics to pay for, and to maintain his government's credit with the Banks for the next mega-projects his mob will be dreaming up, he needs to tax. Carol James would have to do the same, if her Party were government.

Neither the BC Liberals nor the NDP recognize that their whole idea of taxing to try to re-establish and maintain a "balanced budget" under the current financial system is a mathematical impossibility.

The only way a government's budget can always "balance" at present is if a whole bunch of "budgets" of the citizens under their jurisdiction are continually "un-balanced".

A far more sensible approach would be to have a proper set of Provincial accounts similar in nature to the accounts of any private business.

A Provincial "Balance Sheet", properly constructed, would undoubtedly show that BC possesses far more physical "Assets" than it owes in money "Liabilities" against them.

And the difference is the "Capital", or Shareholder's (Citizen's, in this case) Equity.

It would also show that in the majority of fiscal periods overall "Capital Appreciation" is considerably greater than overall "Capital Depreciation", (it has to be, or we would not be progressing 'physically' at all, but 'regressing' ~ and even if it currently feels like many of us are going behind "financially", as a Province we are still physically "getting richer".)

Governments are often compared to private businesses, particularly by those on the 'right'. But even now so increasingly by those on the 'left', who often also preach a need for fiscal prudence. In any private business that was recording continual increases to its Capital Account, or Shareholder's Equity, the shareholders would expect a periodic distribution of those increases in the form of dividends.

Why should a government, now compared to private businesses by both those on the 'right' and their counterparts on the 'left', be any different? Rather than our being dunned for ever more taxes to feed the maw of a flawed method of financial accounting, we should be receiving increasing 'dividends' from government as our "Assets" and "Capital" both increase.

That's a very good post, socredible.

We simply have too much government and too much beaurocracy. That is where the billions of tax dollars go. Every year there is one or two more ministries added to the jumbled mess. In Canada we have ten times the government the USA has with one tenth of the population. No dam wonder wer're taxed to heck

This whole HST thing is a tax transfer from corporations to the service industry. A service industry that is built on a card house in this recession... if this doesn't say loud and clear who this government represents than nothing else will... the people need not be consulted on these decisions is their approach and elects count for nothing but the legitimacy of power conferred on them.

The HST robs BC of its sovereign power to set taxation policy in a centralized Canada. the harmonization purpose is to restrict competitive advantage within Canada through fiscal responsibility of regional governments. This will punish fiscally responsible governments for the benefit of tax and spend politicians and corporate welfare watchdogs.

The government clearly has no mandate for this major political move as they ran against doing exactly this only 3-months earlier during the election. This is a complete fraud on the people of BC for the special interest of corporations and Gordon's Olympic dream.

The "official opposition" has to resort to a petition, like some kind of neighborhood group ?

Makes them pretty ineffective and kind of pathetic.

That's what happens with a majority government.

Or have you forgotten when Glen Clark and the NDP were in the majority?

Who could forget Glen Clark ?

Let's revive BC's shipbuilding industry by building boats that don't float.

I think this petition is unnecessary....we could just email them our disapproval.

What are they going to do, delete all those emails ?

;-)