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HST will pay off in long run

Now that the referendum for the HST is coming closer, there seems to be many more letters in the paper advising us on what to do. Seemingly, most want to vote ‘yes’ and go back to the PST system.

Editor:

Now that the referendum for the HST is coming closer, there seems to be many more letters in the paper advising us on what to do. Seemingly, most want to vote ‘yes’ and go back to the PST system.

For those who don’t have the desire to go to the website to find some answers, here are some of the facts, not opinions. These were taken from the independent report (written from people who know finance and business).

They say the HST will make business more competitive, reduce administrative costs, reduce the cost of producing goods, and create more jobs. I keep hearing about the restaurant industry suffering, but their revenues have also increased three per cent, the same as in the rest of Canada.

I think the problem with our society is that we all want instant gratification. If we don’t see a benefit immediately, we aren’t in favour.  We also think we are entitled to get everything and not have to pay a bit for it.

We complain about having long wait times for surgeries, about small schools being closed down, about funding cuts to programs, yet when the government sees an opportunity to fix this problem long term, we complain about that too. With the rate going down to 10 per cent, it will even cost us less for most things than under the PST/GST system.

Yes, when you go out for dinner, or get a haircut, you pay an extra few dollars. Does that warrant going back to the PST system and costing taxpayers billions of dollars? Are we really willing to put our economy on a downward trend, and fork over billions, to go back to an old system — just to teach the government a lesson?

It sounds a little petty to me, and not at all money-wise. Just as businesses need to keep their companies current in order to stay competitive, so does the government.

Instead of thinking only about ourselves, maybe we should look at the big picture and see what benefits the province the most. In the long run, that will benefit you the most as well.  Please go to the website, check out the facts, look at the big picture and vote ‘no’ to going to back to the old ways.

Angela de Boer, Aldergrove