Where to start! Just a few months after the Liberal Government gets elected they announce we are to get the HST July 1, 2010.

First, a tax that has this much of an impact clearly should have been a topic during the election. Question–do you think the election results would have been different? Now Hansen says it was not on the table.

OK lets buy that one for a moment… so in the span of just a few months the political leaders changed their minds, and without any consultation. I spoke to an MLA that I may name later who told me that he was just told when it was announced to us BC’ers. So it comes down to a few fellas make a big multi-billion dollar call… I’m not sure I feel comfortable with that. We live in a democracy and if they are afraid of me, the voter, then maybe this should not be on the table.

I am a Biz guy. I know how to read a balance sheet and I also understand we are in a downturn in the economy and we need to make some changes. But when I see this kind of unilateral policy-making, I have to tell you, I was pissed. I voted for this government and I may have voted for them even if they had told me about the HST.

Next time I will NOT be voting Liberal no matter what! That is the first time since I began voting I have ever publicly declared my voting history or preference. Frankly, it will not matter due to the fact that most of the back benchers (who probably got screwed also) have already started to spruce up their resumes. I have my contact information on this site and have a great rolodex, so give me your info and I will pass it around my network. I don’t want any of you to be burden on the UIC system… fiscal responsibility, you know.

What you have to understand is that this tax is shifting the tax burden from business to the consumer. That sucking sound you hear is 7% coming right out of your pocket on things that you do not pay tax on today. The labour saving benefit the provincial government will have will be shifted without fanfare to the Feds. Our PST department will find their way absorbed onto the Fed payroll.

I was in the restaurant business when the GST came in, and we had an immediate drop in sales of 10%. That tax was also implemented during a severe recession – sound familiar? Our reaction in the restaurant industry was immediate. We raised prices to compensate for the drop in sales, and that did not work. Next came the lay-offs, and hours were cut back. Many food services went out of business. It was a bad time, and it took us years to recover. As a voter I helped Mulroney out of office and, quite frankly, it changed the political landscape of Canada. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia that tracks the rise of the Reform party that was built on the resentment this tax created.

“Widespread public resentment of the Goods and Services Tax, an economic slump, the dilapidation of his political coalition, and his lack of results regarding the Quebec situation caused Mulroney’s popularity to decline considerably during his second term. An ominous sign was a 1989 by-election in the Alberta riding of Beaver River. In this election, called when Tory MP John Dahmer died, Reform Party candidate Deborah Grey won by a hefty 4,200 votes after finishing fourth in the general election just five months earlier. This turned out to be the first sign that Mulroney’s grand coalition was coming apart at the seams; the PCs had dominated Alberta’s federal politics since the 1968 election. Another sign came after the failure of Meech Lake, when Bouchard and several other Tories broke with the party to form the Bloc Québécois, a pro-sovereigntist (i.e. independantist) party.” Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Mulroney

The one thing I have learned in my years in business is that nothing happens in a vacuum. Everything we do counts. I for one can no longer sit and try to keep my opinions to myself.

The internet is wonderful thing. It has the power to organize and share opinions and, most importantly, let those who make decisions get instant feedback. I know this first-hand as President of Blenz Coffee. We have free wireless in all our stores, and that makes it easy for our customers to give us their opinions. I track a cool site that is providing the information about the HST online. See Stop HST http://www.twitter.com/stophst

Get informed, get involved, and, above all, let those who get our vote know that in a democracy they rent that space. If we are to change the widespread mistrust in our political leaders, they need to man up and stand up for their principles and beliefs. They are there to serve us, not their legacy or future board appointments. If you let them get away with it then you will get what you get.