Jennifer Wu

Every household was mailed a voting package regarding the Harmonized Sales Tax in BC, which cost $8.07 million to conduct. Out of the 3.06 million voting packages mailed out, only 1.65 million was returned, with the majority against the HST. The tax has been promised to be repealed in 2013, but in the mean time, BC residents will have to deal with the extra cost.

The comments below the article show unpleasantries of BC dwellers towards the Liberal Party. Before the election, Gordon Campbell had announced that the HST were not in their heads, but publicized his decision to bring in the HST after the election.  

Now that the damage is done, the money that could’ve been spent on education, health care, Vancouver’s new water filtration system, and other public services are sunk costs gone down the drain. Taxpayers now have to bear the burden of having to pay back Ottawa $1.6 billion for implementing the HST (not to mention the $8 million referendum cost). Have they considered the maybe the BC teachers’ union may not be on strike if the money spend on implementing the HST had been used to raise their wages?

What is the BC government doing? I call anarchy, how about you? (;

Word Count: 194

Sources: The Vancouver Sun, HST Referendum Voters Guide; Photo Source: Uniter.ca