FIN IN THE NEWS: Have your say on the HST

Add your voice to petition

from The Royal City Record

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Dear Editor:

Something is happening in British Columbia this week. People from all over the province are lining up to sign the initiative petition against the harmonized sales tax (HST) set to be implemented on July 1 by the federal Conservatives and the B.C. Liberals. I will be standing with them.

Over the next three months, I will be knocking on doors across our community collecting signatures. The HST has found opposition from all sides of the political spectrum.

So why am I opposed to the HST?

Instead of contributing to a system of taxation that collects public funds for health, education, infrastructure or social programs, the HST is a regressive tax that unfairly offloads millions in new taxes from highly profitable corporations and business to ordinary people and families. The HST will hit the most vulnerable the hardest, adding additional costs to already overstretched budgets.

Citizens were not consulted about the implementation of the HST. In fact, British Columbians were denied any say on the HST during the last provincial election because the B.C. Liberals didn't tell the truth. This is similar to how the Harper Conservatives rammed through the HST enabling legislation federally late last year in the Excise Tax Act.

Over the next three months, I will be working with dedicated British Columbians across this province to give voters that chance that they were denied. Please join me in sending a message to the government and sign the HST initiative.

Fin Donnelly, Coquitlam