In yet another controversial move, it was revealed recently that the BC government was planning to distribute HST pamphlets dripping with Olympic nostalgia in an attempt to win favour for the taxation system. Not only did it feature content citing reasons why “BC is the Best Place on Earth” but also gave people a chance to win an iPad valued at approximately $750 dollars.
Packed into the pamphlet was also a 3-page spread covering reasons to support the HST citing academic, economic and comparative research for why British Columbia should adopt …

After what BC’s finance Minister Kevin Falcon called “a difficult negotiation process”, the federal government has agreed to give BC five years to pay back the $1.6 billion that was given to the province for HST transitional funding. The transitional funding was distributed to BC residents as a way to ease them into accepting the shift from a separate taxation program of PST/GST to a harmonization of both taxes.
Premier Christy Clark and Falcon have been in negotiations with the federal government to try to reduce the total repayment amount to …

After BC residents rejected the HST in the provincial referendum held in August, the provincial government warned that residents would be on the hook for the $1.6 billion advanced to the province by the federal government. According to the contract between Ottawa and BC if the province would have implemented and maintained the HST system for a minimum of two years, the $1.6 billion given to pay out HST rebates and implement the system would not need to be repaid. However, with BC residents opting to reject the system earlier …