View Royal man keeps up long fight against HST

Finding a patch of soft earth, Brad Slade spikes his blue anti-harmonized sales tax sign into the side of the road. Looking at it's message, he never thought heB次元官网网址檇 be a B次元官网网址測esB次元官网网址� man.

Slade was a key anti-HST organizer in Greater Victoria during last yearB次元官网网址檚 provincewide campaign that triggered the HST referendum, and is still working at keeping the controversial tax in the public eye.

In past weeks, the View Royal resident has been dotting the highways and byways of the Capital Region with B次元官网网址測es to extinguishing the HST" signs, a project he started after seeing pro-HST ads on TV during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Getting permission from the Ministry of Transportation to line the Trans-Canada and Pat Bay highways with signs was no easy task. Slade discovered rules for referendum messaging was an unknown quantity. MOT managers were left scratching their heads for weeks.

Slade, 47, kept pressing the transportation ministerB次元官网网址檚 office for an answer. B次元官网网址淓ventually they told me theyB次元官网网址檇 treat it like election signage,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淣eedless to say I was jumping for joy.B次元官网网址�

The sign request has set precedent for the rest of the province. After mulling the issues, Victoria, View Royal, Metchosin, Sooke, Esquimalt and Saanich also gave the OK for Slade to post referendum signs on municipal roadways.

A few municipalities have said B次元官网网址渘o,B次元官网网址� but Slade figures the majority of people driving or busing around the Capital Region will get the Fight HST message. HeB次元官网网址檚 personally spiked hundreds of signs into roadsides, and said heB次元官网网址檚 received a lot more honks of support than middle fingers of derision.

B次元官网网址淭his is such a passionate issue across the province and there is a lot of money being spent by one side,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淏ut no one bothered to ask MOT about putting up signs.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 just thrilled to encourage people to exercise their democratic rights with the referendum. We want to make sure people vote one way or the other.B次元官网网址�

These days, SladeB次元官网网址檚 dining room is stacked high with blue B次元官网网址測esB次元官网网址� signs as a distribution point for a few diehard volunteers. Judith Rayburn is spreading the message through Victoria and is still steamed about how the tax was introduced.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 the fact that this government lied to us. (Former premier) Gordon Campbell told us he would not bring in this tax,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 about shifting taxes from business to everyday people like myself. I have to squeeze every penny these days and its only getting worse.B次元官网网址�

Some HST supporters think voter anger against the 12 per cent tax B次元官网网址� legislated to be 10 per cent by 2014 B次元官网网址� is misplaced and fanned by misinformation. Mike Jagger, speaking for the pro-HST Smart Tax Alliance, said merging the GST and PST makes sense for businesses and consumers.

Jagger, the owner of an security and alarm company, said the PST was a notoriously complicated tax riddled with loopholes and built on a series of arbitrary exemptions. He acknowledged that some consumers might ultimately pay more under the HST, but noted there are rebate cheques for lower income people.

B次元官网网址淐onsumers pay one way or the other, but the PST had a lot of hidden taxes passed on in prices. HST is more transparent and fair,B次元官网网址� Jagger said. B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 have an option of not paying tax, but the HST is simply a better tax system."

Jagger credits the HST with being able to reinvest in his business, including hiring more employees, which he expects will be a common theme for many businesses in B.C.

The Fight HST side argues the HST is simply shifting part of the tax burden from businesses to consumers, and therefore has the support of many large and medium sized companies.

B次元官网网址淭here are winners and losers with taxes, and definitely some businesses are winners,B次元官网网址� Slade said. B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 want to be subsidizing a new company car or computer.

B次元官网网址淭hey are just getting more and more money from you, and making it more and more unaffordable to be here. If I have less money in my wallet, I wonB次元官网网址檛 have as much to spend. That is the real driver of the economy.B次元官网网址�

The independent panel that studied the ramifications of the B.C. HST expects families to pay an average of $350 more per year, and about 17 per cent of goods and services are taxed higher under HST. Rent, most groceries and fuel are the same, for instance, but items such as home repair, restaurant meals and professional services cost more.

The panel report noted that under PST, business tended to pass on an B次元官网网址渋nvisibleB次元官网网址� seven per cent on consumer goods to offset tax paid by the business when it purchased those goods as wholesale. The HST should help push prices down, the report said.

The panel also expects the HST to ramp up economic growth, wages and employment over time, and that moving back to PST-GST will have negative consequences. At the same time, the HST will have an impact on consumersB次元官网网址� bottom line B次元官网网址�- after rebates and tax credits, B.C. residents will pay $1.33 billion more in sales tax and businesses will pay about $730 million less in tax in 2011-12.

B次元官网网址淥ur consensus is the HST will be a net benefit to the economy. But you shouldnB次元官网网址檛 expect dramatic results overnight,B次元官网网址� the panel report concluded.

In the trenches, Fight HST and Smart Tax Alliance accuse each other of cherry-picking facts and spreading propaganda. Slade and Jagger agree that there seems to be little middle ground.

B次元官网网址淭he HST is polarizing,B次元官网网址� Jagger said. B次元官网网址淯nfortunately it is more of a political issue than is should be. We are voting on a tax. This isn't a general election.B次元官网网址�

Slade said after countless volunteer hours of fighting to quash the HST, he thinks Fight HST is close to victory. B次元官网网址淚 believe yes, we will win. ItB次元官网网址檚 been two years of hard work. WeB次元官网网址檙e so close we can taste it.B次元官网网址�

The mail-in provincial referendum on the HST is underway.

For more information on Fight HST, see www.fighthst.com. For more on the Smart Tax Alliance, see hstjobs.ca. For more on the referendum and the independent panel report, see www.hstinbc.ca.