Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Quebec wants 2.6 billion for implementing the HST in 1991


An interesting development on Ontario and BC going to the HST, as you know Ontario is receiving a 4.3 billion dollar bribe and BC is receiving a 1.6 billion dollar bribe to implement the HST and guess what? Quebec who received nothing to adopt the HST in 1991 now are demanding 2.6 billion dollars for adopting the HST, well, I have looked into this issue and I have come to the conclusion that Quebec IS entitled to that money!

Lets start with a little background,Quebec was the first province to adopt the HST, two important points, first off even though Quebec had the HST they never crowded out Ontario,in other words,the corporate world never fled to Quebec, headquarters didn`t move there, it had no effect on it`s neighbor Ontario, so the myth being told by Campbell and Hansen about being at a competitive disadvantage if Ontario goes HST and we don`t is false,first off, BC is a commodity/exporter of raw resources,raw logs,coal, ores etc etc, for a coal company or forestry or mining operation to move to Ontario from BC is laughable, because the amount of savings these companies would save is minuscule compared to the cost of moving to Ontario and having to ship the raw resources back to BC to then ship the products to Asia,because as you know most of BC`s raw resources go to Asia, the corporate world never fled to Atlantic Canada when they adopted the HST in 1997.......

Secondly, Quebec`s HST is different from the one being proposed for BC and Ontario, the difference is this, Quebec still has taxing autonomy, Quebec still collects all the tax and then they send Ottawa it`s share,unlike BC and Ontario, our version of the HST would see all the money go to Ottawa first,Ottawa would get first count of the money then send BC and Ontario it`s share, which brings up another slight problem for small business.....BC business would have to WAIT for the return of the tax,and in some cases this can create a real financial burden with cash flow concerns.(you can read some of the arguments from the Quebec parliament and how they are demanding the 2.6 billion$ dollars here) it`s near the top,right below the (1010) page symbol on the left side of the page.


Lets touch on the Atlantic Canada HST that they adopted in 1997....First off they got 1 billion dollars to adopt the HST, and now the most important point, the provincial tax rate in New Foundland in 1997 was 12.7% and 12% in Nova Scotia, and the GST was 7% at that time...Well,as a carrot to Atlantic Canada to adopt the HST the eastern provinces got 4% and 4.7% respectively knocked off their provincial sales tax as a incentive to adopt! Well, that`s a completely different animal than what is happening in BC and Ontario....Where Atlantic Canada got taxes reduced by 4% and 4.7% BCers and Ontarians are getting a tax hit.

And the result of Atlantic Canada going to the HST was this,housing prices rose,the prices of many things rose,and,according to studies that consumer good eventually a number of consumer goods dropped in price by 1%.....That`s right, taxes were lowered by 4% and 4.7% and prices dropped by 1%....So you can imagine,well I can guarantee that prices in BC will do but one thing,prices will rise and, we will get whacked by having to pay taxes on hundreds of items that were PST exempt.Meanwhile Colin Hansen and Gordon Campbell and Michael Levy keep referencing the Atlantic Canada experience and how their prices dropped by 1% yet they always,every time forget to mention the most important part about how their taxes were lowered by 4% and 4.7%(read about the Atlantic Canada experience here)


Stephen Harper was in BC today down at the port of Vancouver,he was asked about the federal government and why they were pushing provinces to adopt the HST, I found his response very telling, he said " The federal government isn`t pushing the HST on any province,the decision to adopt the HST is completely a provincial decision,it has nothing to do with the federal government"

Look folks,take the Harper statement for what it`s worth,but what I find interesting about Harper`s statement and other statements from the federal government is this....I have not heard the federal government once say, it`s the single greatest thing that provinces can do to help their economy,not once have they said we need to adopt the HST to be competitive around the world.

And, I find it funny,here we are in Canada with the strongest banks in the world, of the G20 group of countries we are in the best fiscal shape,most countries around the world envy Canada,so why would TOP DOG,why would Canada want to emulate these countries? Every argument Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen have made regarding the HST is false, and,where is the legislation,where are the hard numbers? I expect,just like the carbon tax bill in 2008,it wasn`t debated in the legislature,it was rammed through the spring session in 2008 along with 6 other contentious bills in less than an hour,the same thing is going to happen in the spring session, the HST will be rammed through without debate.

And finally,back to the 2.6 billion$ dollars that Quebec wants for adopting the HST,the squeaky wheel gets the grease, it is going to be an election issue(whenever we have the next federal election) for Harper to gain in Quebec he will have to give them 2.6 billion$ dollars, if IGGY wants to garner votes in Quebec he will have to give Quebec the 2.6 billion, which makes the HST now a very interesting federal issue, expect the fireworks over the HST to escalate, if Iggy wants to gain votes in BC or Ontario he must offer to get rid of the HST,Jack Layton(who won`t win the election) is in the cat bird seat, he has made his stance on the HST well known,he`s strongly against it.....So what does Iggy do,what does Harper do....And we do have 4 federal bi-elections happening next month.This is going to be entertaining.

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open


Anonymous said...

Quebec doesn't have HST. It's even worse. Their PST portion is a tax on both the cost of the good/service AND the accompanying GST.

Quebec certainly is not entitled to any more money from the feds either. They already receive $8.355 BILLION/year in equalization payments representing 58.2% of those annualized payments, while it only has 23.1% of Canada's population!

Enough of Quebec sucking Canada's teet!

And they vote for the separatist BQ? Sheesh.

Grant G said...

Anon 7.05....

I am certainly not advocating handing money to Quebec,but,the maritimes got 1 billion...Ontario 4.3 billion...BC 1.6 billion..
Equalization is a seperate issue,Quebec does have a form of HST...A combined tax,one tax structure,although I`m not familiar with their exemptions...The point I was bringing up is the HST con..Now because of bribing BC and Ontario it`s going to cost tax-payers 2.6 billion more.

And yes,Quebec forever has been getting special treatment,but putting that aside for a moment,under the terms of adopting the HST provinces get paid X amount of dollars depending on population,,,,,

The HST should be scrapped,the bribes should be scrapped,but,I will bet dollars to DOUGHnuts that Quebec gets the money.


Anonymous said...

If Quebec gets another 2.6 Billion $ then the equalization transfers could be reduced to 5.5 billion $
Don't you think?

Steeve Frank said...

Quebec..! I found it a wonderful city. So we Web Developers in Toronto thought to develop our business in Quebec as well after great achievements in Toronto..