(The following article is from theSeptember 1-15, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers and  overseas readers - $50 per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

PV Vancouver Bureau

A tidal wave of public anger threatens to swamp the newly re-elected Campbell Liberals over their decision to impose a "Harmonised Sales Tax" on the province.

     Polling by the Ipsos Reid survey firm indicates that 85% of British Columbians oppose the tax, which will add seven percent to the current 5% provincial sales tax on most goods and services on July 1, 2010. The move will impose an estimated $1.9 billion on consumers per year, with the funds going to big business rather than health care, education, or social services. The province will receive $1.6 billion from the federal government for taking this step, but these funds are not tied to any form of spending.

     Many British Columbians are furious that this enormous tax grab was announced in early summer, just weeks after an election campaign in which the Liberals denied any intention to enact the HST. This tactic has motivated thousands to join anti-HST Facebook groups; the largest, initiated by political commentator Bill Tieleman, had topped 90,000 members as of August 17.

     Two major rallies will measure the ability of this campaign to move people into the streets. The first is set for the Legislature in Victoria at noon on Tuesday, August 25, followed on September 19 with another 12 noon rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

     Some activists are also calling for recall initiatives aimed to bring down at least 13 Liberal MLAs and deny the government its majority. While such recalls are extremely difficult and cannot formally begin until November 2010, their view is that successful preparations for such a drive could frighten the Liberals into backing down.

     As political analyst David Schreck points out, the HST will shift taxes from businesses to B.C. families. "That's what it means when (Premier Campbell and Finance Minister Colin Hansen) say the tax saves businesses $1.9 billion per year while keeping the government revenue‑neutral; in other words, you pay more to make up for what businesses will save... A shift of $1.9 billion per year from businesses to B.C. families makes the HST the biggest tax shift in B.C. history."

     Gordon Campbell's 2001 tax cuts (announced by surprise just after his first election victory) cost the province $1.5 billion in revenues, with just 8,000 people receiving 14 per cent of the benefits. The overwhelming majority of that tax cut, over $1 billion annually, went to higher income earners. Then in 2002, Campbell's 50 per cent increase in Medical Service Plan premiums cost B.C. families about $450 million per year.

     These shockers are dwarfed by the HST move, which will mean an average tax shift of $428 for each resident of B.C. Since high-income families pay a lower percentage of their incomes in sales taxes than middle or low-income earners, the tax is profoundly regressive.

     The government claims that the HST shift will boost new business investment, but Schreck notes that like Ontario, the Campbell government seems to have pulled this argument from one flawed study of the Atlantic provinces reported in a 2007 Commentary from the C.D. Howe Institute.

     The issue has given new life to NDP leader Carole James, who failed to gain new votes or seats for her party in the May election. This is the second time James has jumped on an anti-tax bandwagon - last year it was the Premier's carbon tax, which drew wide protests in rural and northern areas across the province. But while James hopes to tap public anger against the HST, she has yet to propose any truly progressive alternative.

     In contrast, BC Communist Party organizer Sam Hammond says that British Columbians should call for deeper changes.

     "Working people in BC have faced a relentless attack on jobs, incomes, social programs and collective bargaining rights under the Campbell Liberals," says Hammond. "It's time to turn things around, by fighting to win a truly progressive taxation system. That has to start with a huge movement against the HST, including the rallies in Victoria and Vancouver. But the working class and its allies need to bolster this campaign with a people's alternative, one that puts the burden of the province's financial crisis on the backs of the rich and the corporations. The Communist Party will put forward such a program, and this fall we will carry it into the trade unions and all people's movements."