Sunday, November 29, 2009

Join new Facebook protest group - Defeat the HST in Parliament - and help kill the Harmonized Sales Tax this coming week!

- Joel Bedford photo of Parliament Hill


I have just created a new Facebook protest group - Defeat the HST in Parliament - and urge you to join right away, as there will likely be a vote by Members of Parliament this coming week on the legislation to impose the Harmonized Sales Tax.

Here is some of the information I have just published on Facebook about what's happening in Ottawa - and how we can try to kill the HST in both Ontario and BC permanently.

* * * * *

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government will introduce legislation to impose the Harmonized Sales Tax in Ontario and British Columbia this week - meaning a vote could come as early as Wednesday or Thursday.

Harper says that it is NOT a confidence vote and if the HST legislation is defeated it will NOT be brought back at a later date.

So this is a fantastic opportunity to defeat the HST in Parliament and save Ontario and British Columbia consumers from paying far more for goods and services without seeing any of those taxes pay for health care, education or social programs.

The revenue raised by the HST will instead go to tax credits for big business.

But there isn't a lot of time - please act now by joining this Facebook protest group and passing on the word to friends, family, co-workers - anyone who might join.

The more people who sign up the more pressure there will be on Members of Parliament from all parties to vote against the HST and kill it once and for all.

For more information on the HST in BC please see the
NO BC HST Facebook protest group - and Fight HST, the group formed by ex-BC Premier Bill Vander Zalm that is leading the opposition to the HST.

Party Positions in Parliament on the HST

Conservative Party - Support the HST and will bring in legislation this week to impose it as of July 1, 2010. All Conservative MPs are expected to support the HST.

Liberal Party - Have made negative statements about the HST, calling it "Harper's Sales Tax" - but have not said what they will do when it comes to a vote in Ottawa.

The Globe and Mail's Bill Curry
reported Friday that: "Federal Liberals acknowledge they've been placed in a bind over an HST vote forcing them to choose between political opportunity or avoiding a bitter feud with provincial Liberal cousins."

Liberal MPs said yesterday they will meet behind closed doors before taking a position on next week's Conservative government motion."I'll decide in my own sweet time," Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told reporters in St. John's. "I haven't seen the legislation. I've got to consult with the caucus."

Bloc Quebecois - Appears likely they will support the HST but only if they can get a retroactive cheque from the federal Conservative government because Quebec adopted the HST in the 1990s without receiving any federal incentive money.

Ontario will get a one-time only $4.6 billon payment and BC a $1.6 billion payment for "implementation costs" of the HST.

New Democratic Party - NDP leader Jack Layton opposes the HST and has said his MPs will all vote to defeat it. New NDP MP Fin Donnelly - New Westminster-Coquitlam - campaigned heavily against the HST in his Nov. 9 by-election win.

.

7 comments:

Ron said...

How big a bribe will the Bloc demand? About $5 billion I guess - similar to Ontario?

I guess the Fiberal position will be their vintage "the HST if necessary, but not necessarily the HST".

I notice that the Ontario Conservatives and the notional BC Conservatives oppose the Harper Sales Tax.

Thank goodness for the New Democrats.

Keep up the great work Bill.

Anonymous said...

We can only hope that some Tory MP's in BC & Ontario will actually vote with their long stated anti-tax creed.

Canadians certainly cannot count on Count Iggy and his gutless band of patronage chasers to do the right thing . . . even if its politically smart.

Iggy can kiss her Harvard ass support and few remaining MPs in BC goodbye if he goes along with Campbell's mad-quest for cash.

Logic screams why would any federal politician want to take it in the butt to save the likes of the Premiers of Ontario & BC from their own stupidity?

The GREAT SATAN

Anonymous said...

Don't Forget the Senate. They will be voting too. Imagine the unelected Liberal Senators saving us from Harper and the HST. Where is Larry "I will not be whipped" Campbell on this one?

Anonymous said...

From NorthVancouverPolitics.com

Anonymous said...

I have sent a note to Mr. Saxton requesting that he vote in opposition to the implementation of the HST in BC. I strongly request that you all do the same. He can be emailed at:

saxton.a@parl.gc.ca

Sunday, November 29, 2009 11:19:00 PM


For those wishing to have their Convervative MP vote in opposition, do the same.

Anonymous said...

Point of Privilege

by Hon. G. Collins: I rise today to respond to a matter of privilege which was raised by the member for Vancouver-Hastings............Further, it is not unheard of for taxes to be collected before the House has voted. I refer you to Erskine May's sixteenth edition, page 698, as it pertains to the general rules of financial procedures where it says: "It will be useful to summarize here the effect of the financial standing orders with respect to showing which of the general rules of financial procedure they prescribe and to which kinds of financial business they apply these rules. It will be seen not only that they cover a

[ Page 9001 ]

comparatively small portion of the field of financial procedure, but also that they need help from 'practice' to cover that portion effectively."

Further to that practice, it has not been universally held that all taxation must first be passed by parliament before it can be collected. I refer, Mr. Speaker, to page 759, subsection (7) of the same document, where it contemplates "provision for making a charge with retrospective effect, from the date before that on which the bill becomes law." Pages 795, 796 and 797 refer to the provisional collection of taxes subsequently validated by an act of Parliament..............

http://www.leg.bc.ca/Hansard/37th5th/h40303p.htm

IN OTHER WORDS we're going to have the HST come hell or high water so sayeth the BC Liberals.

Anonymous said...

Real men pay taxes Tieleman. Classic socialist who thinks taxes are only a good thing if someone else has to pay. The HST treats everyone the same and that is why you socialists hate it. Bring on the HST and cheap screws be damned !

Anonymous said...

Cut more services. We can't afford it. Spending more than 50% of tax revenues on health care. Way too much. The ones that hardly pay any taxes always want more. Not gonna happen.