BCers Vote To Remain Dippy Hippys

With the increased cost of doing business in that province brought about by today's vote against a harmonized sales tax, BC citizens will all have plenty of time not working to eat magic mushrooms and cavort with the Orcas. And, oh yeah, Starchildren, that 1.6 billion the rest of the nation gave you to implement the changeover?  We want it back, so I guess its coming out of your asses.

Update: The Federal NDP sees it differently.  They figure its cool for the province's citizens to be deadbeats.

This Poison Pill Pretty Tasty To NDP

The Conservative government plans to bring in legislation connected to the harmonized sales tax in the coming months, giving it the tool to bring about its own demise should Prime Minister Stephen Harper wish to capitalize on the Liberals' current misfortunes.


As I have argued previously, of the three parties with a presence in the ROC, GST/PST harmonization as an issue in any upcoming federal election probably works to the advantage of the NDP, with both the LPoC and CPoC suffering a bit because of their association, on either the federal or provincial level, with the process. So if Harper is willing to trade a little weakness on his own squad for a stronger NDP and a Liberal party that is weaker still, this would be a smart move tactically.

I would therefore suggest that the Libs think of a way to support such legislation, especially if (as the article referenced above would suggest) it is introduced as a stand-alone bill. There are a couple of justifications for this stance (other than the ones that involve the stench of terror).

1) The policy Ignatieff has settled upon is to do nothing to hinder any federal/provincial harmonization deal, and although this position was taken hypothetically and dependent upon the existence of an Ignatieff-led Liberal government, I see no particular reason there should be a different position as opposition. Why get in the way of a deal struck by the (quite popular) McGuinty Liberals?

2) I find that this "voting blindly against" allegation sticks in the craw a little bit. It seemed silly of the NDP to take a stand against every little piece of legislation without even having seen it, and now the Libs risk getting stuck in the same situation. Given that Thursdays' non-confidence motion will fail, if this legislation comes forward between now and the next opposition stay and, as a stand-alone, is acceptable, then it should be supported.

Of course who knows what the Bloc will do? They don't have a stake in this game policy-wise, having harmonized their sales tax years ago. Tactically, given CROP's latest result, I would think they'd be inclined to support.

Why Are Federal Tory Candidates Campaigning Against The Harmonized Sales Tax?

If you scroll through the members list of the "We don't want HST" facebook page, you find...a gentleman named Kyle Seeback. Click on Kyle's entry and it takes you to

...here:

Now, if you're wondering why the pols on Kyle's friend list are a bit Tory-heavy, its because Mr. Seeback ran as Tory candidate in Brampton West back in '08, and indeed will be running again for them next time around.

So, another Tory abandoning the Harmonized Sales Tax.

So here is my question: what is the federal Tory position on the HST? The plan is a 2008 budget initiative of the federal government, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty seems to be behind it (depending on the day), but on the other hand we have back-benchers and candidates fleeing in all directions and even the Prime Minister's spokesman seems to want to fob the whole thing off on those provinces that have entered into a harmonization deal with the Feds . How can any of the other provincial leaders contemplating such a move not wonder if they will be simply hung out to dry when the going gets a little tough politically?

h/t Buckets.

Running From The Harper Sales Tax

Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan:

Federal Conservative DNA is all over the HST and denials of any role in its parentage ring hollow, Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said yesterday.

"I'd refer to Mr. Flaherty's budget and I'd ask those Conservatives why they would vote for that and then speak against it," Duncan said, in the wake of several Conservative MPs and one of the prime minister's spokesman trying to distance the party from the plan to combine the provincial and federal retail sales taxes.

The Iggman himself:

He said the government has pushed the HST across the country during a recession and then has distanced itself when opposition to the tax heats up.

"And we think that's dishonest. They're fully implicated in this decision and they should take responsibility for it."

Ignatieff said Stephen Harper is pretending it's a provincial matter for both British Columbia and Ontario, yet the federal government will be the collector of the tax.

Mind you, as I've written previously, I think the NDP is best set to exploit this issue both provincially and federally, so this isn't a surprise:

Vancouver New Democrat MP Libby Davies scoffs at both the federal Liberals and Conservatives, pointing out that the parties voted for the HST cash enticements in the federal budget.

"It sounds like they're all running for cover and trying to blame each other."

Nor is this:

The New Democrats are framing the upcoming St. Paul's by-election as the chance to send Premier Dalton McGuinty's Liberals a message about the controversial harmonized sales tax.

As the NDP selected lawyer Julian Heller last night as their candidate for the Sept. 17 contest, party leader Andrea Horwath said voters in the midtown Toronto riding can let McGuinty know what they think about the 13 per cent tax.

Just as an aside, the HST issue as it has been playing out in B.C. has brought this guy outta the wood-work. I saw his face and flashed back to that day in the late 70s when I found those little mushrooms in that field behind Belmont Sr. High, near Langford B.C.

Too weird, man. I'm hearing Grateful Dead music playing in my mind.

Sales Tax Harmonization As An Election Issue?

Trouble in Tory land for the continued support of at least some of their MPs and Ministers for the proposal:

When I asked Minister Jim Prentice to clear my confusion on our Conservative government’s part in the looming HST gouge, I could have sworn that the answer was being delivered by Dalton McGuinty or Dwight Duncan. It came complete with the standard disclaimer that economists are unanimous in their acclaim of the new combined sales tax. And, it was topped off with the, don’t worry, be happy, icing; “Taxes won’t go up.”

Interesting to try to work out how anti-HST anger might play out in B.C. and Ontario during a fall national election (which, my goodness!, is starting to look halfway possible). I don't see the issue helping the two major parties that much. In both provinces, the harmonization involves cooperation between federal Tories and provincial Liberals, so it would be difficult for the Federal Libs to oppose it, at least in a full-throated fashion. And in Ontario Tory leader Tim Hudak's position has been to arm-wave and protest while at the same time refusing to commit to a repeal if ever elected.

There seems a bit more for the Federal NDP to work with here. Provincially (Ontario), for example, Andrea Horwath has promised a simple repeal. Federally, I haven't noticed a response from Jack Layton, although at the NDP national convention Nova Scotia's Darrell Dexter urged other provincial leaders to exercise caution in the implementation of the harmonization scheme. In any case, they can, should they choose, take a more definitive stand, and without looking at the B.C./Ontario electoral maps I would nevertheless assume there are ridings in both provinces where a such a stance might pull enough protest votes to put the local NDPer over the top.

h/t Northwestern lad for some of the links.

Team Hudak Goes For Its Own Jugular

Stephen Harper Conservatives are pretending they had nothing to do with the controversial plan to blend the federal and provincial sales tax in Ontario, Tory MPP Bill Murdoch says.

"They can't divorce themselves away from this," Murdoch told Sun Media. "They're part of this whole scheme."

And they are too, though Hudak and co. have been trying to portray the GST/PST merger as soley the creation of Dalton McGuinty, so as to make it easier to oppose. Murdoch's intervention, however, insures that we will have a bit of Tory-on-Tory violence.

As to the Ontario HST itself, well, I'm not sure what I think of it yet. I believe the plan is to send out cheques to the tune of $300 a couple of times a year (the story says $1,000 but I don't think you get it all at once) so the whole thing works out to be revenue neutral, and most of the big business lobby groups are touting it as a boon to administrative efficiency. You wouldn't, however, think the province would get on board with something like this if they didn't come out ahead. So skepticism is the order of the day.