I didn’t see it live, but I read the highlights, and it’s pretty much exactly what I thought it would sound like. Whenever I see Gordon Campbell talk, I can’t help me feel that he’s talking down to everyone, and that’s the perception I was left with after reading his speech. First, he apologized for not giving the province a heads up about the HST, but Ottawa didn’t give him enough time. If that doesn’t sound like the biggest copout ever, I don’t know what would. Even if that’s true, you gotta wonder about any deal that’s shoved down your throat with a ticking stopwatch attached ...

Well, it’s been nearly two weeks since the HST kicked in, and I thought I’d summarize some of the benefits: camping fees went up from $24 to $30 at Cultus Lake Gas went up about 5 cents per litre in Chilliwack Carbon tax on fuel went up 1.12 cents/litre the local Pharmacy started charging for all bags on July 1st a can of soda went from $1.05 to $1.15 at my favourite coffee shop BC Hydro’s Rate Rider was silently raised from one to four percent Clearly this tax is on its way to causing prices to drop on consumer goods in BC. ...

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 ...