VICTORIA – One year ago today, the B.C. Liberal government doublecrossed British Columbians and announced the HST, which shifts $1.9 billion in taxes from big business onto consumers, say the New Democrats. Bruce Ralston
“Over the years, the B.C. Liberals have betrayed the people of British Columbia on a lot of things: the sale of B.C. Rail after they promised not to, a massive expansion of gaming while slashing support for gambling addiction, and a budget deficit nearly four times what they promised, just to name a few. But the HST doublecross takes the cake,” said Bruce Ralston, New Democrat finance critic.
Ralston oted that voters are not only angry about having to pay the tax itself, but they are angry that the B.C. Liberals said they would not implement the HST and then, after the election, announced the hurtful tax shift.
“People are angry, and they have every right to be. To make matters worse, after more than 700,000 people signed the initiative petition urging the government to scrap the tax, the B.C. Liberals are now spending untold millions of public dollars on a propaganda campaign that claims they’re right and the public is wrong,” said Ralston.
“The betrayal was bad enough. To waste money now trying to save their own political hides just makes it worse, particularly at a time when schools are closing, waitlists are growing, and we’re trying to create jobs as the economy struggles to recover.”
The Carole James New Democrats are holding the B.C. Liberals accountable for their HST doublecross while working with British Columbians from all walks of life, all corners of B.C., and all sectors of our economy to build a better British Columbia for the people of this province.