British Columbia just announced that they are going to be switching to a harmonized sales tax model in July of next year. Basically, instead of having a provincial sales tax (PST) of 7%, and a goods and services tax (GST) of 5%, they are going to have one combined tax, a harmonized sales tax (HST) of 12%. I’m no economist, but that seems like a pretty bad idea. Here’s a quote from the official release: This is the single biggest thing we can do to improve B.C.’s economy,” said Premier Gordon Campbell. “This is an essential step to make our businesses more competitive, encourage billions ...

While many of you may be out tonight doing something for Valentine’s day, just hope that you don’t hurt yourself and end up in an emergency room in New Westminster. Apparently the fire marshal was called in yesterday and was forced to clear part of the ER due to overcrowding: The fire marshal has ordered an area of the emergency room at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster to be cleared because of overcrowding. Fraser Health Authority spokesman Michael Bernard said the fire department was called to the hospital after receiving a complaint about crowding. “He took a look around the ...

Well, I walked in the door about an hour and a half ago, and man oh man, am I beat. Today was a pretty rough day. I woke up in a hotel in Invermere, BC, at around 9am, seriously hungover and in a hurry to get back to Vancouver. I really wasn’t looking forward to the nearly ten hour drive to get back, especially considering that I have to work again in the morning. I had a really cool time in the Rockies. I left Wednesday and made it as far as Golden BC the first night. Camping there wasn’t very restful since there was a train track right beside where my tent was pitched. In the morning, I ...