A motion was passed in legislature May 25 to reduce the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to 10 per cent by 2014, which the B.C. Liberal government is touting as its firm commitment to keep its promise to British Columbians.
Subject to a "no" vote in the upcoming HST referendum, which means the HST stays), the new legislation requires Finance Minister Kevin Falcon to immediately advise the federal government to reduce B.C.'s portion of the HST to six per cent on July 1, 2012 and a further reduction to five per cent on July 1, 2014, to bring it down to 10 per cent.
Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett says if the referendum retains the HST, the three-year reduction to 10 per cent will take effect through the legislative motion.
"It had to happen; nothing is enshrined unless it's in legislation."
While some people are bound to say legislation can always be changed, Barnett says she can't imagine that would happen in this case.
"If any government didn't learn a lesson by the HST in the first place, Lord help those that try to change it."
NDP Leader Adrian Dix says the B.C. Liberal government rammed the HST changes through with inadequate debate, after the debate was cut off in less than a day, rejecting the Opposition's call for a two-week extension.
Barnett says she disagrees with Dix because it was clear to her in listening to the debates that the facts and responses were all presented, so passing the motion was a “no-brainer.”
"How many times can you ask the same question and repeat the same answer? This has been more about politics than about good debate, in my opinion."
However, Cariboo-Chilcotin anti-HST organizer Eric Freeston says closing the session was just more of the same from a B.C. Liberal government that had given less than a week's debate to the original HST implementation.
"It's starting to show a bit of a pattern that when they don't like what they hear from the Opposition, they'll just invoke closure."
The issue is simply too important to justify a short discussion, he adds.
The legislative motion also binds the province to make good on providing one-time transition cheques of $175 per child to families and to low- and modest-income seniors if voters choose to keep the HST during the mail-in ballot process.
