Referendum result a victory for democracy: Fight HST
Posted Aug 26, 2011 04:12:08 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Fight HST says the provincial government has been taught a lesson by angry voters.
Organizer Bill Vander Zalm calls the result a victory for democracy and the first time voters anywhere in the Commonwealth have been able to reject a tax after it was introduced. “More importantly, I think it sent a message to politicians throughout our country, especially, that they can’t simply do things because it’s the will of a premier or the party.”
He wants the provincial government to restore the PST/GST system to exactly the way it was before.
“I think we go back to what was,” says Vander Zalm. “That must happen. That’s what the referendum act is all about. We go back to what was prior to the introduction of the HST on July 1, 2010.”
Vander Zalm describes Fight HST’s referendum victory as “fantastic.”
Smart Tax Alliance disappointed
The Smart Tax Alliance was formed by a variety of business interests to lobby in support of the HST. President Mike Jagger says they certainly weren’t expecting a slam dunk win but are disappointed to be on the losing end.
“The PST was a broken system. Now we have voted against the HST. Everyone appears to concede that the PST was a very expensive, wasteful tax system. There is a short window to figure out what are we going to do to move forward.”
He says the HST solved a lot of the problems that were hard-coded into the PST.
