Almost 55% Have Voted to Repeal the BC HST!

[maianarisa]

British Columbians have voted to scrap the province’s controversial
harmonized sales tax, according to the results of a binding,
province-wide referendum.

Elections B.C. announced on Friday morning that 54.73 per cent of the
1.6 million British Columbians who cast a ballot in the mail-in
referendum voted to get rid of the tax and 45.27 per voted to keep

Comments

[romp]

I'd like to hear what other BCers here think. I've been reading lefty takes on the HST for a year and have never felt strongly one way or the other. I mean, it aids businesses (which could be good if they're small) and hurts low-income families more than predicted--we felt the difference immediately. But paying $3 bil to undo. : /

I don't want this $3 bil to be used as a reason to gut services more.

[magus_69]

I voted to get rid of it. I never entirely bought the government's line, but what pushed me over the edge was the announcement that they would lower it to 10%. There is no way that I will vote to lower a tax unless I know what will be cut to compensate for the lowered tax.

[hockeyobsession]

i work in mental health and almost everyone i know voted for the old gst/pst system. there has been so many government cuts to so many important areas already, i can't even bear to think how many more services will be cut if taxes were lowered.

[eridaelectric]

The only thing that really bothered me about the HST thing was that my dog food got taxed. I believe my dog's vet bills were higher too. I'll be honest. It's not the sort of thing I really get in a tiffy about. Because I rely on government services a great deal, and I think it's my duty to pay some sort of tax, and that it is the duty of all people to redistribute wealth. I also live in an area where there are lots of really rich people with an underbelly of really really poor people (me being one of them). And so when I hear the people around me that have lots of money whine about the HST, I just roll my eyes. Paying a little extra for your dohnut or your resteraunt meal isn't gonna kill you. But it might kill me.

[romp]

That's the problem--those of us who are barely getting by felt it immediately when we shouldn't be feeling it at all. So it didn't work the way it was supposed to from the start...but will the loss of it be used to cut services more?

[eridaelectric]

No doubt in the health and mental health sector too. I can't get any help on this fricken island, and there is so much NEED for it. It is really quite depressing. My old psych doc even said to me that she just medicates and shoves us out, that there were no groups and no beds for mental health. I think I read that there are 14 beds every 6 months or something for crisis intervention mental health services. That is a pitiful number.

D:
I should mention that I moved here only a year and a half ago (from alberta), so paying as much sales tax was a bit of a shock first anyway. Other than my dog's needs, I didn't notice it too much. But I'm also extrememly isolated (read: shut in). I tend to avoid spending money and frequently eat poorly to make it. I only have myself and my dog to look after, most people in similar position to me have families and such.

I think what I'm trying to say is I still feel rather ambivalent about it. I think it will end up costing more to get rid of it too, and of course, the cuts involved scare me.

[romp]

Yeah, I think we agree that there is no one choice that's a clear improvement. :(

I think mental health has been underfunded by VIHA (or the province via them) for years. I hope this improves for you.

[aiffe]

Good riddance to an awful tax!

The HST was classic trickle-down economics. All the bawwing about the poor, poor businesses with a single tear dripping down their noble faces made me retch. It hurt the poor, and it even hurt small businesses, who immediately started crying that no one could afford their shit anymore. But it was making someone very, very rich. Someone who had no intention of giving any of that money back to the community.

I think the government is abusive and will punish us for standing up to them and refusing this kind of pro-corporation, anti-lower-class tax, but the fact that people are using this as a reason not to stand up to them sickens me. The fact that our government is twisted enough to try this shit and punish us when we try to stop them is EXACTLY WHY WE SHOULD STOP THEM.

Maybe they wouldn't be so poor if they didn't spend millions trying to convince us that robbing us blind was actually awesome. IDK.