Jack and the HST

Mowich

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Dec 25, 2005
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Got a present from the NDP in my mail yesterday. A glossy flyer telling me that "Jack Layton will ensure that BC can have its say on the HST, WITHOUT, having to pay billions to Ottawa" and that is taken right off the flyer, complete with emphasis on the 'without'. Excuse me, Jack, but you are a Fed and the referendum on the HST is a PROVINCIAL matter - get that - PROVINCIAL.

It also comes with the message that " You can't trust Ottawa Conservatives - Just look at the HST fiasco" - also a direct quote.

And all this time, I had been laboring under the belief that it was our not-so-illustrious premier Gordon Campbell who brought us this infamous tax - how stupid could I have been???? So I did a bit of research on the tax and found I was not so stupid after all.

Seems that the provinces have the 'option' to go with the tax - notice that 'option. It was not forced on us by the federal government - it was shoved down our throats by our own Premier - Gordon Campbell.

After telling a bald face lie during the election campaign ala 'read my lips' that he would not bring in the HST - he did exactly that once elected. Campbell had problems with some pesky bills left over from the 2010 Olympics and saw a chance to get some dough from the Feds to help out.

The fact is that BC took the money for the implementation of the tax. If we are to 'opt' back out, we owe the Feds.

Jack has absolutely no influence over the decisions of our provincial government. He assumes that we are too stupid to realize that and hopes that as his bandwagon roles along, the anger over the HST will just add more wagon chasers to the parade.

Seems that Jack is not above resorting to lies in order to further his quest. Nor is he above treating us like simpletons.

GO, JACK, GO! YOU ARE NO BETTER OR WORSE THAN THE REST OF THE POLS - ABLE TO LIE LIKE A RUG WHEN IT SUITS YOUR POLITICAL AGENDA.
 

TenPenny

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Jun 9, 2004
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Got a present from the NDP in my mail yesterday. A glossy flyer telling me that "Jack Layton will ensure that BC can have its say on the HST, WITHOUT, having to pay billions to Ottawa" and that is taken right off the flyer, complete with emphasis on the 'without'. Excuse me, Jack, but you are a Fed and the referendum on the HST is a PROVINCIAL matter - get that - PROVINCIAL.

It also comes with the message that " You can't trust Ottawa Conservatives - Just look at the HST fiasco" - also a direct quote.

And all this time, I had been laboring under the belief that it was our not-so-illustrious premier Gordon Campbell who brought us this infamous tax - how stupid could I have been???? So I did a bit of research on the tax and found I was not so stupid after all.

Seems that the provinces have the 'option' to go with the tax - notice that 'option. It was not forced on us by the federal government - it was shoved down our throats by our own Premier - Gordon Campbell.

After telling a bald face lie during the election campaign ala 'read my lips' that he would not bring in the HST - he did exactly that once elected. Campbell had problems with some pesky bills left over from the 2010 Olympics and saw a chance to get some dough from the Feds to help out.

The fact is that BC took the money for the implementation of the tax. If we are to 'opt' back out, we owe the Feds.

Jack has absolutely no influence over the decisions of our provincial government. He assumes that we are too stupid to realize that and hopes that as his bandwagon roles along, the anger over the HST will just add more wagon chasers to the parade.

Seems that Jack is not above resorting to lies in order to further his quest. Nor is he above treating us like simpletons.

GO, JACK, GO! YOU ARE NO BETTER OR WORSE THAN THE REST OF THE POLS - ABLE TO LIE LIKE A RUG WHEN IT SUITS YOUR POLITICAL AGENDA.

I know that you quoted the brochure, but did you read it, and furthermore, did you understand it?

The gist of the comment is that Layton is saying he won't make BC pay back the 'bribe' or whatever you want to call it that they got for going to the HST. He's not saying he'll let BC choose, as if it's a favour, he's saying they can opt out without paying back the hush money.
 

Avro

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Feb 12, 2007
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That's how the feds got provinces to go with the HST, dangled money on front of them.

Besides, the hst is a buisness friendly idea that promotes growth.....the facts are there to prove it.
 

TenPenny

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Jun 9, 2004
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That's how the feds got provinces to go with the HST, dangled money on front of them.

Besides, the hst is a buisness friendly idea that promotes growth.....the facts are there to prove it.

Having been involved in the change from the FST to the GST and then HST, I can certainly agree with you that from the point of view of any business buying and selling anything, the HST is a much, much simpler and efficient system.

Do you remember the Federal Sales tax, was 13.5% of the wholesale cost of goods, some paid it, some didn't. It was replaced by the 7% GST. Much simpler, but people not involved in business had no idea that they were replacing a 13.5% tax with 7%, and therefore they complained.
 

Avro

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It was the MST that the GST replaced and I do remember.

People hate the switch because they are narrow minded.
 

cranky

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The 2% reduction in GST that the Harper government gave all of us.........Nova Scotians lost it last summer when the province's HST rate went up by 2%. :-(
 

Praxius

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Dec 18, 2007
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The 2% reduction in GST that the Harper government gave all of us.........Nova Scotians lost it last summer when the province's HST rate went up by 2%. :-(

Which was done by the Provincial NDP government..... whom I voted for..... and I support.

The HST in Nova Scotia was introduced by the Liberal party & pissed a lot of people off, including myself, then the Conservatives promised to reduce it when they got into power & did..... but when they did that, they also cut jobs, hospital beds, shut down emergency rooms in rural areas of the province, screwed the province over on the Offshore deal with the Fed Government and then attempted to illegally use what little money we were getting back on that deal to pay off the huge debts that the Provincial Conservative government created either on purpose or just through plain Conservative Stupidity, which led to their downfall & the NDP's rise to a Majority Power here in Nova Scotia.

They raised the HST tax in order to help pay off the huge debt the Cons left the province in, as their only other option was to cut more jobs, cut more hospital beds, close down even more ER's in rural areas of the province, cutting more funding for needed programs, and keep the same trend the Provincial Cons were running.

So the NDP raised the HST back to its original %, but no higher.

So for all of those bashing the NDP for raising the taxes in Nova Scotia, give your damn heads a shake.

#1 - How does lowering the Tax create more jobs in the province when at the same time you're also cutting jobs, funding, ER's & hospital beds. Common sense would tell you that if any kind of jobs were being created in this scenario, they'd be greatly cancelled out by cutting the above.

#2 - Those who prance around talking about how great the HST was & is for increasing business & jobs are also the same people who wave that same Tax in our faces as an example of how bad NDP governments are for raising the tax % to its original height when it was originally created, as if that Tax is going to now make the Province lose jobs & business.

How the sweet hell will it do that when it's only being raised to where it was already at in order to fix the crap the other parties created? Apparently it was a good % back when you guys were promoting it and hoping to have it implemented..... but now it's not because the NDP are working with it?

People are narrow minded?

I think that's the other way around friends.

Oh and that wonderful 2% reduction in the tax that Harper gave us all was taken away in Nova Scotia?

Funny how it was reduced by the Federal Conservatives to win a few votes, yet had to be raised back up Provincially due to the complete incompetence of the Provincial Conservatives and their mishandling of Nova Scotia's money & debt....... and it's the NDP who take all the blame for trying to maintain what few jobs are left in the province and who are trying to fix the Cons' fuk-ups.

Speaking of which:
Nova Scotia wants to double immigration by 2020
Nova Scotia wants to double immigration by 2020 - CTV News

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia wants to double the number of immigrants arriving each year by 2020 in an effort to boost its workforce as the population ages.

Premier Darrell Dexter says the province will spend an additional $790,000 to target skilled labour under its new immigration strategy announced today.

The province plans to attract 7,200 immigrants a year by 2020, up from the current goal of 3,600.

Dexter says to meet that target, the province will need to issue 1,500 certificates under its nominee program for skilled workers by 2020.

Dexter says the province will have to work with Ottawa to remove the cap on the nominee program, which stands at 500.

The province has had a controversial history on immigration as a previous version of its nominee program failed to give immigrants the middle-management work experience and training they paid for when they came to Canada.

^ Which is far more then what the Cons have tried to do for the Province in regards to creating jobs.

How did Nova Scotians get jobs while under the Conservatives?

THEY MOVED TO ALBERTA TO WORK IN THE OIL SANDS!

So you guys can kiss my ass when it comes to the NDP & the HST Taxes brought into our Provinces by other Political Parties, Because you are the ones who don't know wtf you're talking about & narrow minded.

And the HST was never proven to help increase jobs in Nova Scotia because at the same time jobs increased in NS when the HST came in was also the exact same time the Offshore work was getting into full swing, that later the Cons attempted to screws us on.

If Layton is promising or suggesting some way of giving you guys in BC a chance to challenge having that tax remaining, I'd take him up on it, speaking as someone who lived under the HST for 14 years and seen what it does first hand.

Oh and for the original poster of this thread bitching about the HST being a Provincial, not a Federal matter:

Harmonized Sales Tax
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonized_Sales_Tax

Background:

In 1996, three Atlantic provinces — New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia — worked with the federal government to implement a Harmonized Sales Tax and lower the sales tax portion to eight percent. The result was a 15% combined tax when the federal rate of seven percent was added......

Considering the HST is a combination of the Government Sales Tax AND THE Provincial Sales Tax, the Federal Government does have a say in the matter..... thus Layton & the NDP aren't lying.

Get a damn clue.
 
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cranky

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sounds a bit like double talk,

when the BC Liberals cut hospital beds, they took responsibility for their actions.

But the NS NDP? DING DING DING!!!! They aren't responsible for anything!!!!
 

lone wolf

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Nov 25, 2006
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In Ontario, Mike the Knife (PC) did that ... and more - before he broke Ontario Hydro into a bunch of different companies and sold it off to the "for profit" sector. Last year, Timmins lost Kidd Met to Quebec - mostly because Hydro is greedy as Hell now....
 

Praxius

Mass'Debater
Dec 18, 2007
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sounds a bit like double talk,

when the BC Liberals cut hospital beds, they took responsibility for their actions.

But the NS NDP? DING DING DING!!!! They aren't responsible for anything!!!!

They're only responsible for what they do while running the province.

Tell me how they should be held responsible for the actions, corruption and incompetence of the Conservative Government.

I'd really love to see how you pull that magical rabbit out of your ass.

The Reality is you don't like your favorite party being bashed & trashed for the things they're directly responsible because it makes them look worse then they already are, so all you got left is to bitch and moan & attempt to try and pass the buck to the NDP.

Don't forget (Oh wait, you probably didn't even know) that it was the NDP who have been on the Prov.Cons ass all these years to hold them accountable (as being the main Opposition)

And it was the NDP who brought up the election to bring down the Cons when it was discovered they were going to "ILLEGALLY" use the offshore money to pay of debts the Cons didn't manage properly.... who then also attempted to cover it up.

That's why the NDP got a Majority, That's why the Liberals took over Opposition and That's why the Conservatives ended up going from leading the Province, to 3rd place & a 3rd rate political party in Nova Scotia.

If you don't know wtf you're talking about.... don't start talking.
 

cranky

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Tell me how they should be held responsible for the actions, corruption and incompetence of the Conservative Government.

Those weren't your words in your previous post. You were whining about the actions of the NDP and blaming it on everything and everyone except the NDP

 

Praxius

Mass'Debater
Dec 18, 2007
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Those weren't your words in your previous post. You were whining about the actions of the NDP and blaming it on everything and everyone except the NDP

You don't read very well do you?

I was talking about the actions of the Provincial Conservatives & the Provincial Liberals that the NDP always seem to have to clean up after whom also get the blame for the state of the province(s) that the other two parties left them in.

They're damned if they do & damned if they don't, while the Libs & Cons always seem to be the poor victims of their own damn actions.

If I'm whining, at least I actually have something to whine about..... you're just making sh*t up and inventing BS in order to have something to whine about against the NDP.

Thanks for playing though.
 

cranky

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Apr 17, 2011
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let me ask you something......if Jack ......IF Jack raises taxes, it wouldn't be his fault, right?

you're just making sh*t up and inventing BS in order to have something to whine about against the NDP.

You are correct. The 2% HST hike last summer ........totally false! I made the **** up just so I'd have something to whine about :)
 

Mowich

Hall of Fame Member
Dec 25, 2005
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I know that you quoted the brochure, but did you read it, and furthermore, did you understand it?

The gist of the comment is that Layton is saying he won't make BC pay back the 'bribe' or whatever you want to call it that they got for going to the HST. He's not saying he'll let BC choose, as if it's a favour, he's saying they can opt out without paying back the hush money.

Uh, huh. So it matters not that the province entered into a legal obligation with the Feds......Jackie will just let that go right along with the money that the Feds gave the province. Considering all the promises he is making, one might think he would need every cent he could get his hands on. Sheesh.
 

Avro

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Uh, huh. So it matters not that the province entered into a legal obligation with the Feds......Jackie will just let that go right along with the money that the Feds gave the province. Considering all the promises he is making, one might think he would need every cent he could get his hands on. Sheesh.

So you want it both ways?

Sheesh, btw what does the buisness community think about the HST?

You know.....the job creators.