Dear Editor:
Regarding the advertisement in the North Shore News of July 6 advocatingt the retention of the HST:
In their ad, the four North Shore MLAs state that voting to keep the HST will save you money as the HST rate will be reduced.
The B.C. government estimates its net loss of revenues on an annual basis as of 2014-15 will be $1 billion ($1.7 billion in lower HST revenues minus $666 million in higher corporate and tobacco taxes).
The government will need to find that $1 billion somehow. Its choices are: raise taxes, cut services, increase the deficit or just renege on the promised HST rate cuts.
This is the MLAs' idea of saving money? As the MLAs aptly note in their ad, the government "stumbled badly" when it brought on the HST last year. The "fix" just makes it worse. By a billion dollars in fact. Every year.
If the purpose of taxation is to generate revenues to pay for services, why vote for a tax that doesn't?
Garrett H. Polman, West Vancouver
