British Columbia does not want the HST

As a resident and voter in British Columbia, I am less than thrilled about this "surprise" announcement. I was one of the few people in BC who bothered to vote in the last provincial election, and while I do recall weighing in on yet another referendum, it was not on the topic of harmonisation. In fact, I don't recall the topic of sales tax harmonisation coming up at all.

It turns out it did -- the restaurant industry asked the Liberal Party about it point blank at election time, and the Liberals neatly dodged the question: "a harmonized goods and services tax is not something that is contemplated in the B.C. Liberal election platform."

http://www.crfa.ca/news/bytopic/elections/bc/where_the_parties_stand.htm

So, one of two things is true:

1. The government was not considering adopting the HST at election time. If this is true, then they managed an amazing and possibly reckless feat in going through the process of accepting the HST for consideration, weighing the pros and cons, consulting with the relevant stakeholders, doing a cost-benefit analysis, and meticulously crafting the policy change that would best serve this province, all in the span of, what, six weeks from election to announcement? Eight weeks maybe? Amazing. Who knew the wheels of government could turn so quickly. Unless they didn't perform their due diligence.

OR

2. The government was considering adopting the HST at election time, and knowingly evaded/ equivocated/ obfuscated (some would say lied) when the question was asked. If this is true, then why? If it is good tax policy, one would think they would be able to sell the idea of the tax on its merits. Yet they chose not to (in this scenario). Why? Why would they choose to avoid consulting their electorate? Did they know it would be unpopular policy, and hope they could slip it under our noses without our noticing or caring? Do they believe that is how democracy works?

I don't understand why the premier would choose to sell out BC's autonomy in this way. After all, once the taxes are harmonised, how easily will we be able to separate them should the spirit so move us? How much control will our province have over what is and what is not subject to PST, and at what rate?

One of the government's defenses has been that the Ontario government had agreed to adopt the HST, so BC had to do it too.

I don't see how that follows. I had thought that the Government of BC had been able to act independently of the Government of Ontario. Certainly in the past that was true. Apparently now we simply go along with whatever they decide back east.

It must save the BC government a lot of time to simply parrot Ontario's decisions.

Come July 2010, I guess I'll be doing more cross-border shopping. Given that the premier has implemented the HST to be good for business, apparently at the cost of the consumer, than I guess BC businesses will be in less need of my custom. Washington/Alberta, here I come!