Unbelievably, the BC Liberal government can't publish a list of goods and services that the new extra 7% of the Harmonized Sales Tax will apply to - but the Ontario Liberal government has no problem doing so!
BC Finance Minister Colin Hansen announced the HST in July 2009 and to date the BC government website still has no listing of what the HST will hit as of July 1, 2010 - but he keeps complaining that Fight HST has "misinformation" on its list of goods and services that will be going up 7% to a 12% combined HST!
Check the BC government's pro-HST website and you won't find a list anywhere
But you can at least take a look at the Ontario HST taxable items list here!
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11 comments:
How the heck are the PAB earning their money?
Anon 3:36
They earn their wages by trolling the various websites, talk shows etc. and misleading the public or just blaming previous administrations for all the woes of the BC Liberal party.
If I'm not mistaken, the BC Public Affairs Bureau is about three time the size of its equivalent that works for the president of the USA.
I seriously doubt that much thought went into the process here in BC. The senior folks finally got it across to Hansen , who really didn't want to know, Gordo stepped in and it was HST time. No studies of courser, just another of Gordo's shoot from the lip deals. But its pretty likely it started well before the election. THose dummies figured the tax payers woud just knuckle under and do as told.
"If I'm not mistaken, the BC Public Affairs Bureau is about three time the size of its equivalent that works for the president of the USA."
Can you cite that? I will post it everywhere if you can get me documentation!
Even just the number of pab people working full time/part time would be a valuable stat to help show people how far gone this government really is.
(anon from a minute ago...)
Anon 9:20
After much googling I was able to find this much info. If you go to www.bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com and go to BC Mary's article posted on April 6,2009, you will find a reference to an article written by Miro Cernetig in the Vancouver Sun. In the article he states that the size of the PAB is 223 fulltime employees. She has a link to the original article, but all I got was a page with the Vancouver Sun logo and other junk, but it seems that the article was either deleted by request or maybe they only keep articles for a specific length of time.
That's the best I can do for you on short notice.
With Fourth Estate under siege, government seeks to manage news
by Miro Cernetig, The Vancouver Sun
Apr. 6, 2009
[snip ...}
What's the Public Affairs Bureau? Well, PAB is essentially an in-house information spin machine, housed in the legislature's basement.
It has a $28-million budget. It has 223 full-time news spinners. And it has high-tech systems that allow them to monitor all media in the province and transcribe it in almost real time. If a political thought is broadcast or printed in this province, chances are PAB has found it and combed it for any political import.
Here's some perspective. There isn't a newsroom in Canada with 223 full-time reporters covering a province. And no newsroom anywhere covers a legislature with the same intensity as PAB.
It's a rare event to find cabinet ministers without a PAB employee trailing them, tape recorder in hand. Even the ministers get irritated by the PABsters' ubiquity.
Some will blame the Liberals for this. But it's not a partisan thing. The genesis of PAB -- essentially a centralization of information gathering and distribution -- actually took root under the New Democratic Party, when it was in power.
- Retrieved from the Canada Newstand website, which has a complete listing of all Vancouver Sun stories published since 1879. Available for free through your public library website!
Just a quick note to all in the anti-HST camp.
I have noticed a subtle shift in the comments on the various sites, blogs etc that I frequent.
more and more people are including something like this as part of their comments: 'yes, we all have to pay taxes BUT what I really hate about the HST is the way that Campbell and the BC Liberals mislead us during the election and there was no debate about reshaping the tax system.'
This deep anger is a good sign for when the petition campaign ends (we will win that one easily) and the recall campaigns begin (a much tougher fight - the monied classes won't take us for granted again). Even if Campbell is couped out of office, there is enough resentment - it seems - to change the face of the legislature.
http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=2be2a064-10ab-4a47-8399-27bc230a437c
The PAB article!
This deserves a LOT more coverage!
The PAB Rats have been scurrying around the basement of the leg for years now.
When will we finally call in the exterminator? The truth needs to be revealed.
Not HST related
A couple of Canwest employees have written some useful info
Vaughn Palmer blogs about the
Premier's reasons for missing key meetings in U.S. - "The government assured me [Palmer] that Campbell had been engaged in some equally important meetings here in B.C." - the reality was anything but "important meetings".
We know this because of some digging by Jonathan Fowlie.
BC Liberal leader Gordon Campbell blew off two days of sessions that were important for the provincial interest to... WATCH SPORTS - he did absolutely nothing even remotely connected to the PABlumrs given excuse of "important meetings here in B.C."
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