Didn't you notice the 0.01 price drop in gasoline prices??

I am just going to go out on a limb and make the suggestion that this probably doesn't really surprise you Ben!

Some businesses which include the HST in their prices have added seven percent...and a bit.
A local purveyor of ice cream cones on the Hart just raised the price of a single scoop from $2.25 to $2.75. That, you math majors may have calculated, is more than seven percent. Any excuse to put a bit more in the business pocket in case the tax cut gift for them wasn't enough.
Remember to vote Liberal!

i stayed in a hotel july 1 and was told when i paid the bill i saved i percent with the hst because the hotel tax has been dropped
big deal i may stay in a motel or hotel twice a year.
in the meantime a well known and popular restaurant on central took the hst as opportunity to raise individual prices on their menu from 75cents to two dollars as well as the hst.
guess they figure people are stupid enough to elect this govt. theyll believe the hst is the cause of their bill increase of ten dollars for a family of four

How can you tell when a politician is lying?

His lips are moving.
He is breathing.
She has a pulse.
She promised with all her heart.
He said private citizens would benefit.
She said it would be painless.

Businesses have to price their products competitively or they will be out of business quickly. The prices consumers pay are tied to the expenses the business incurs in providing the product or service. HST will reduce the cost of some inputs of production and will eventually be reflected in the price.

Prices are not going to go down immediately, but eventually the HST savings will be reflected in prices.

Those of you who think that businesses can charge whatever they want and owning a business is a license to print money should go start a business.

Ben. You operate a business. I bet you consider your costs when you set ad rates. Next time you buy a computer, software, office chair, paper, business vehicle. Your cost will be 7% cheaper than it used to be. Will these cost savings factor into what you charge for your service?

Jut got a camera lens from Visteck in Calgary and guess what they added the HST. The Federal government informed them that they had to collect the HST from purchases being shipped to BC.

So that means we have to shop in the USA to avoid the tax.
Cheers

well kolberg, just like using the hotel i wont be buying a business vehicle,office chair or computer software.
hmmm!!! i would guess that business people would be tho.
so tell me again who is getting the savings

people who shop in alberta will save, people who take big expensive holidays outside of BC will save.

we will not eat at restaurants as often, we will save. they will have to lay off cooks and servers, they will save...all because of the hst!!

went to Jasper the other day and had lunch guess what..NO HST it was nice soooo i tiped my waitress good.....I used to work
serving and have always considered myself a good tipper.I havent gone out in bc since the hst but if restaurants are raising prices along with the hst I will not eat out here at all.
Anyways I can cook a WAY better meal than any of the chain restaurants in this town;)

I work at a chinese restaurant who has lower than average prices in general and noticed the demand for deliveries has gone up since July 1. I suspect people are switching to lower priced restaurants to compensate for the HST.

I have also been lookin around for this saving and have actually asked the business owners where my saving are? Most have raised their prices saying that it actually costs them more money to operate right now. Yup the only saving i get is more space for the air in my wallet.

Actually ran into a case where a merchant had raised their prices... Hoping the HST "confusion" would mask the increase... or so the cashier confessed...

Like we did not know that "some" merchants are less than ethical. This was predicted by almost all the opponents from the beginning. Ah, but what do we know. We are just conspiracy nuts, right?

Trust no one, least of all politicians and the retailers they are in bed with.

The primary goal of government is and has been to support the larger business'. Our government is not for the people by the people. It is to the people for the corporations, more specifically for their election contributors. Why else would a company "donate", they expect to get something in return.

I think we should ban all political contributions greater than $1000. That would take the corrupt colour off.

Since July 1st, just doing what I normally do, and paying what I normally pay I have paid $78.00 in HST up to July 21st. So simple mathematics tells me that if this trend continues I will pay $1355.00 for a full year.

Keeping in mind that I am not a big spender, you can imagine what some people will be paying. As an example a single return ticket via air to Vancouver will increase by $12.00.

There are other examples of where we are getting the Royal Shaft, however they are too numerous to mention at this time.

This HST Campaign is not over by a long shot. The counting should be finished by mid August, after which we will see which way to Government goes. Come November there will be recalls started all over the Province, and ultimately I expect that if necessary people will march on Victoria.

This is the end of the line for tax increases for all levels of Government, all we need now is for people to get off thier asses and do something. Write a letter, or phone your MLA and give them hell.

We can roll this tax back, and get some fiscal responsibility out of this Government but we have to apply pressure. It requires more than writing notes on this site, or sending letters to the Editor of a newspaper. It requires ACTION.

So lets get rolling. Our MLA's are counting on us to sit on our ass and do nothing. Lets prove them wrong.

One small step for tax reduction, one huge step for democracy.

Have a nice day.

Nice dream, not going to happen though. Our MLA's have no authority to rescind the HST, neither does our Premier. This was mandated above Harper even before he thought about going into politics. Chretien and Mulroney both knew this was coming, it has been in the works for years.

Unless and until we the citizens stand up and recall our supposed representatives, we will continue to be nothing but fodder for corporations. As long as "we" keep voting along party lines of which there are now 2 operational in this province, we will continue to be such.

Non-partisan Party!

I don't believe that businesses will pass on the savings but I do believe that this HST will give businesses a chance to upgrade equipment to offer better service and hire new staff.

Tommy Douglas had a nice saying " We the Mice allways voting the Cats back in again, Black Ones .White Ones, but Cats they are.Until we find good Peoples for our Governments nothing will change.

I had a haircut today. The lady owner, I have known for years and a busnesswoman, had to increase her prices by 14% (before adding the HST) because the HST has increased her overhead immensely. I asked her if she was getting a rebate from the government for the HST, as our MLAs promised and she said no. I also asked why the price increase when our MLAs promised a reduction in prices. Pat Bell and Shirley Bond owe us an explanation immediately, for what appears to be gross misrepresentation and dishonesty of all in the Campbell government.

Whenever I go to a barber the price hovers between $15 and $18. A tax has never been added to it. However, I assume that the barber remits 5% GST on the income he receives from those payments, unless he makes less than $35,000 net, which may be the case.

I think for that business it is pretty close to a zero sum game since there is very little that PST was ever charged on other than major purchases when a shop is opened. The rest is small sundry items.

The 14% + 14% is ridiculous. He/she may not know how it works.

I noticed when I got a haircut the other day (since HST implementation) the price has now gone up by $2.00, to an even twenty bucks. So now, with my usual two buck tip, (same barber for decades) its a nice round twenty-two bucks for a haircut, or about a twenty percent jump in that little necessity alone. (Good thing I only need ten or twelve of them a year).
An extra large coffee every morning, and a bagel, on the way to work used to be $3.70. On HST day, they wanted $3.94. I used to buy five of these a week, but haven't bought one since that day, and now I have my coffee and toast at home before I leave, feel better about the whole process. and have discovered I'm up about twenty bucks a week in "pocket money"!! Who says HST won't put money in "your" pocket!! There's a grand a year that staying in mine !!

I have been keeping track of the HST and contrary to what we were told,it IS costing us a lot of extra money!
The bast**ds lied,but we knew they were lying,didn't we?
I want a piece of these elected liars!
Recall,general strike,anything...but they cannot be allowed to get away with this.
Campbell is banking on us simply forgeting about it over time.
Not going to happen,because as time goes on,we WILL understand even more just how badly we were scammed.

Loki:-"Our MLA's have no authority to rescind the HST, neither does our Premier."
-----------------------------------------Technically that may be so, Loki, but what's to stop a BC government re-setting their 7% portion of the 12% HST rate to 0%? And simply re-instating the PST? If Saskatchewan got out of it, we can too.

Likely the only prices that will drop here as a result of the HST will be on goods or services sold by businesses now going out of business.

Packing it in because their customers won't pay the increased price the HST has brought about on items not previously taxable.

Any saving on Hydro HST now being fully an Input Tax Credit has been lost to increased hydro rates through the rate rider.

Fuel costs have been increased through the Carbon Tax.

And Property Taxes, for most businesses, are up, not down. And all that white-haired twit of a Premier's ads on how good the HST is for us are doing is making most of us madder. "Recall in the Fall", folks, enough is enough.

I figured the first place to see a drop in prices surely would come from the Provincial Liquor store. I thought for sure prices would drop at this provincial retail outlet. Even the provincial government did not pass on savings to the consumer.