I WILL BE THERE!

Go Prince George!!

I plan to be there too. Let's hope this gains momentum.
Come on, Prince George we can do it.

The only thing the protesters are likely to achieve is sore feet from stamping the sidewalk. Unless Hamburger Pattie serves them all soft drinks. Then they can say that something was achieved. I am with the protest in spirit, but I can't see them changing or eliminating a deal that is already done. The crooks ( BC Liberals ) did not offer us a chance to vote on this, or a heads up that the change was proposed, they just went ahead and did the deal. Surely Vander Zalm is smart enough to know this, so why is he spearheading a campaign? On the other hand, it does seem like a good idea to let the crooks know that we do not approve of their underhanded ways.
metalman.

HST is a good thing. If you do not want to pay a lot of HST tax then do not consume the items that are taxed.

GENIUS I TELL YA!!!!

"With the imposition of the HST, Summers points out, a huge tax burden is being shifted onto the backs of workers, professionals, students, businesses, and the elderly. It is just not fair"

To me, that's the rallying point that needs to be pushed. I think that is the "big picture" issue as opposed to complaining about the increased tax burden.

I think there is an overwhelming view out there that all levels of government have abandoned their concern for the "little guy" and are focusing too much on what big business needs and/or demands. This holds true on issues from economic policy, to the environment, to protecting our wild fish stocks, etc.

If this rally is only about HST it doesn't have a chance. It if becomes something bigger, it could snowball IMHO.

The rally is just a rally to draw attention to the HST and show the Government that people are opposed to a tax increase. Once the Rallys are over the real work begins. Ie;

Vanderzalm and his group have to file with the BC Elections to get a petition going. Once they have the ok to petition then they have 90 days to get 10% of the registered voters in each riding to sign the petition. There are 87 ridings in BC.

If they get the required 10% of signatures in the 90 day period then the petition is given to Elections BC. Once Elections BC vets the petition (approx 45 days) and confirms that they have the required number of signatures, the petition in then sent to the Governent who is obligated to hold a referendum on the issue.

If it goes to referendum and 50.1 percent of the voters vote against the Legislation (HST) then the Government has recind the Legislation.

So to say that it is a done deal is incorrect. The initiative has not even been started yet. Dont confuse this initiative with the various petitions that are being signed around the Province. They are a separate issue.

The initiative group will be looking for approx 50 Captains in each riding to organize people to get signatures on this petition. In the case of the Prince George riding we would probably need close to 5000 signatures to get 10% This would mean that each Captain would have to get at least 100 Signatures.

While this initiative is a formidable task, it is doable, and only requires some hard work on the part of the registered voters in our ridings.

I would also suggest that anyone who wants to sign this petition (Initiative) should be sure that they are on the voters list. If they are not, then they cannot vote. You can easily get on the voters list by going to Elections BC site on the internet and following the steps.

You must be registered before the 90 day period starts. So I suggest that you register right away.

If the referendum should fail, then there is some suggestion that a recall campaign should be started to recall the Premier and some of the MLA's who supported this tax.

This issue is far from over, in fact it is just starting.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/manitoba/2009/08/05/10370081.html

Ontarion and B.C. have signed on the dotted line for the HST and now Manitoba is looking at it as well.

Still, it is a good idea to let them know that not everyone is thrilled with it.

PaysHisOwnWay

HST is a good thing. If you do not want to pay a lot of HST tax then do not consume the items that are taxed.

Are we to understand that you are saying not to "consume" real estate fees, cable TV, hydro, home renovations, hockey tickets, magazines, telephone, funerals, haircuts, first aid kits, airline tickets, school supplies, and a wide range of other goods and services.

So -
don't sell your house
don't watch cable TV
don't use electricity
don't renovate your home
don't buy hockey tickets
don't read magazines
don't die
don't get your hair cut
don't buy a first aid kit
don't buy airline tickets
don't buy schools supplies etc.etc,

????????

Pays his own way
Sounds like you voted for these idiots.
TO bad Campbell does not have to worry with his own pay increase

But while the premier is neglecting hard working British Columbians he is rewarding friends in his inner circle.
Gordon Campbell gave himself a hefty 54 percent raise in 2007, and under his watch, CEO's of crown corporations have seen their compensation skyrocket by as much as 166 per cent.
Gordon Campbell gave his deputy ministers a hefty pay raise in 2001 and another in 2006 - this time promising not to do it again for four more years. Then the premier broke his promise two years later, giving his deputy ministers another raise and opening the door for an increase of up to 43 per cent in 2008.
In February 2008, the public learned that Campbell's TransLink board voted themselves a 500 percent pay raise. Only a few weeks later, the premier's BC Ferries directors received an increase of up to 60 percent -- on April 1, 2008 - the same day ferry fares were increased for British Columbians.
In 2008, more than 50,000 British Columbians worked for minimum wage or less.
Since 2001, Campbell has raised the salaries of deputy ministers three times. If Campbell had raised the minimum wage at the same rate of increase as his deputy ministers' salaries, the minimum wage would now be $12.20 per hour.

When will the people that vote these liars in learn?

You have just asked the same question I have been asking since the first days of the NDP in BC. Who will stand up and say "I like liars in the legislature. I voted for them and I'll do it again." Is that what you teach your kids too?? It's OK to lie if you're a politician or is it just OK regardless of who you are? Wake up Prince George - - If you don't, you will be ruled forever.

There is no doubt in my mind this is geared to bring more money into the coffers of the provincial government, and if they don't get the money this way, expect them to jack up the PST to 10% or increase provincial income taxes.

Of course they will also have to tax us enough to make up for the 1.5 Billion dollars we are getting from the Feds.

Ultimately with higher unemployment means less income for the government, so they have some hard choices. Raise taxes, lower services, or run up debt.

Personally I don't like any of those options, but the government already pays enough of my money in interest, so I don't want more debt. I Don't want to lose the libraries, schools, or Hospitals. So I guess that only leaves an increase in taxes. :(

Personally I would like to see a lot of revision of tax laws. Flat tax rate, net worth tax, and eliminating many of the tax exempt status of organizations such as churches.

Good point Vdesign - why do we have to prop up churches etc, with tax exemptions???

The following is taken from today's post on the blog "The Automatic Earth". It is written by one of the authors of the blog, Ilargi. Anyone who is planning on not attending this HST rally should read it.

"Yesterday, I picked up the article below, written by an investment adviser named J. S. Kim, who puts his finger right where it hurts most. In my view, everybody needs to read it who can. Though I’ve never actually met Kim, and, since he charges about $3000 per hour for a private consultation, likely never will, I must say he has a remarkably sharp eye, and a pen that makes his analysis as good as probably anything I've seen recently.

Kim's words appeal to me especially because at this point in time I feel it's increasingly important to provide an appropriately sized counter-weight against the hollowed-out echo chamber of ultimately irrelevant here-and-gone exuberance that spreads around the world. It's as false as it is dangerous. People, on an individual, community and societal basis, will make decisions based on the illusion that growth is back and the recession but an unpleasant memory. Resources that might still have been used to build some kind of shelter from the storm are instead incessantly being wasted not on building solid foundations but on decorative gargoylic elements for the rooftop, never mind that the supporting walls have crumbled beyond any call at recognition or redemption. Are you realy hungry enough for good tidings to set your own house on fire?

What this will lead to, and indeed already has, is levels of poverty, both in scope and in depth, which we haven't seen in a long, long time. And which, unless we act to halt their advance, will blow our communities and societies to smithereens from the inside.

When I say that you can judge the quality of a society by the way it takes care of its weakest, many if not most Americans will immediately think of the word "socialism", even as they don't know what it means. But it's not about partisan political choices, about freedom, or the pursuit of happiness, or about big government. It's very simply about minimum requirements for a functional society, period. You can't have tens of millions of people being unemployed and/or living below the poverty line for extended lengths of time without resorting to oppressive measures of physical force aimed at keeping down those who have landed in your gutters. And if you would choose that option, one that many Americans would, knowingly or not, support, then freedom takes on the meaning of "the freedom to repress others", or even "the freedom to repress whoever you can", and down the line, as the single logical outcome, Orwell's "some animals are more equal than others".

While elements of this notion may seem to have much appeal to many of those who remain standing for now, don't be fooled. Unless you want to see soldiers and tanks overflowing your neighborhoods, not providing for your weakest is not an option. And no, you won't feel just as happy about your life, and that of your families, if and when on your way to work you’re forced to pass by children starving by the side of the road while clasping a shotgun in your lap. A functioning society, whatever political label you might prefer to stick on it, is possible only when its members manage to suppress the temptation to take so much for themselves that too little to survive is left for their neighbors.

And them there's your picks: either choose temporarily increased riches at the cost of blowing up your communities, or voluntarily give up on some of it in order to preserve them. Sure, we haven’t had to deal with issues such as these for decades now, and for most of us not in our lifetimes. That was because we were growing, or at least were able to fool ourselves into thinking we were. Present market developments have many among us believing we still are growing.

The human mind in all its segments and facets, developed over millions of years, is the ultimate and perfect sucker for such ideas. That doesn't make them any more true, though. You simply can't grow your economy by borrowing money from yourself. Still, that is, in the final analysis, the only underlying cause for the rally we're about to see run out the door never to return. "

The following is the link to the article by J.S. Kim which is mentioned at the beginning of the quote in case anyone is interested in reading it:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/160619-the-coming-consequences-of-banking-fraud?source=article_sb_popular

P.S. - Performing Arts Center anyone?

Uh, can someone tell me which political party doesn't lie?

Kim makes the all too common mistake of believing that there is an absolute equilibrium between "wealth" and "money". There isn't. Of the former we are NOT now, nor will we likely ever be in the future, short. Indeed the constant advance of science and discovery continues to increase "wealth" ~ things which we can actually put to use to serve our needs~ virtually boundlessly.

But just because "wealth" consists of things which have some "price value" expressed in "money" attached to them does not mean there is an equivalent sum of "money" in existence somewhere in the whole economy. And therein lies the problem.

Any party that hasn't been elected, hasn't lied ------- yet.