The Editor,
Open letter to the proincial government.
I heard on the news the other day that the provincial government was claiming that the non-supporters of the HST were sending out a false message stating that the HST was taking all of our money away.
Is this not a fact, that under the HST, we, as consumers, are paying far more in tax than we were when we had the GST and PST?
Think about it, services such a homeopathic treatments were exempt from PST, food and beverages were also exempt from PST and many other services.
Just with the services mentioned above already shows that the government is earning more tax revenue on these services alone.
What I would like the provincial government to do is clarify this statement that was made earlier by Finance Minister Colin Hansen that the HST was revenue neutral, yet he threatened that if the HST is cancelled that we would lose funding for healthcare, public services and more.
How this supposed tax is called neutral is beyond my comprehension.
If the government wishes to pass the HST in the referendum, then, rather than offering a two per cent cut on the tax, which may or may not ever come to fruitition, take the HST and only charge it on past items which required the GST and the PST.
That would make the HST in all honesty, pretty close to revenue neutral for us all.
David Chan Richmond
