British Columbia Federation of Labour

Published in The Vancouver Sun June 24, 2010

Just days ago the Premier's number one advisor, Martyn Brown, admitted he didn't even know Energy Minister, Blair Lekstrom had resigned in protest over the HST. If this means Gordon Campbell is forced to look further afield for advice on scrapping the HST perhaps Nike offers him some direction. Just do it.

The Liberal government doesn't need a referendum and the people of British Columbia certainly don't need to drop another $20 million to find out what we think about the HST. The Liberal government should call the legislature back this fall and do what British Columbians want for a change, kill the HST.

Then they should sit down with the rest of us and begin developing a fair taxation policy to ensure all our citizens receive the support that makes us proud of our province. The first action requires the courage to admit you were wrong. The second requires the vision to do the right thing.

Let's be clear, the labour movement is not against taxes.

We understand that taxes fund important public services and programs.

But the labour movement, like most British Columbians, is against taxes that are dishonest. Introduced days after the Liberals were re-elected, even though they ruled it out during the election campaign, the HST is a thoroughly dishonest tax.

Its introduction showed contempt for voters and a disdain for democracy. This is not how tax policy should be developed.

After a decade of tax cuts, and corresponding public service and program cuts, we need a serious discussion about taxes. Instead the Liberals treated us as though we couldn't be trusted with judging the merits of the HST, and decided one more broken promise didn't matter.

Furthermore, the labour movement simply cannot accept a tax that takes $2 billion from the pockets of British Columbians, many of whom are having trouble making ends meet, and gives it to corporations, many of which are already profitable.

This is the wrong tax at the wrong time for the wrong reasons.

How much more will we pay to finance the Liberal's tax shift? That's a subject of debate. The TD Bank estimated the annual cost increase of the HST on a typical BC family would be $800.

In Ontario, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' analysis suggests the introduction of the HST in that province will have minimal impact on taxpayers. But, that is with tax credits, tax cuts and exemptions that are not part of the plan here in BC.

The Fraser Institute, in a late bid to rescue their Liberal friends, released a thin report suggesting there would be no cost increases for British Columbians because of the HST. A more thorough analysis was also released this week that used a Statistics Canada model. It found that BC households, particularly seniors, would be hit hard by the HST.

Finance Minister Colin Hansen has seemed entirely in the dark on how the HST will affect individuals and families. This is not how tax policy should be developed.
But he's not confused about the so-called benefits. If we all pay lots more and corporations get big tax cuts, British Columbians will get more jobs, lower prices, increased wages and more corporate investment.

The BC Liberals have fed us this line before.

They slashed income taxes by about $2 billion a year, disproportionately to the wealthy, and told us it would make us a stronger province.

The Liberals have already slashed corporate taxes by about $1.5 billion a year. They told us this would boost competitiveness, productivity and job growth.

Having cut $3.5 billion in annual provincial revenues who feels any richer?

No matter how you measure it, the Liberal's tax slashing has failed to deliver the promised results. Employment growth has been lower than the 1990's. Investment in machinery and equipment in BC has barely increased. Even before the recession began in 2008, the forest industry had lost almost 24,000 good jobs. BC child poverty is highest in Canada.

Tax cuts haven't worked. Instead they have left a legacy of chronic cuts, closed schools, underfunded healthcare facilities, angry seniors, children without proper support, declining wages and growing unemployment.

The Liberals never tire of telling us that people don't like paying taxes. But that's only half true. People understand value for money, and most people don't mind paying fair taxes to build a strong province.

What people really don't like is being lied to and taken for fools.