By David F. Rooney
Can public protest derail the BC Liberals’ plan to impose its wildly unpopular Harmonized Sales Tax next year?
Vanessa Smith believes it can, but says people really do have to speak out loudly and clearly in order to stop the HST cold. And that’s one of the reasons she organized an anti-HST rally that took place in front of her Mackenzie Avenue store at noon on Saturday. The other reason, of course, is the HST, which she says simply allows government to tax virtually everything.
Smith has a lot to say about the HST. She not only read her own statement but one from former premier Bill Vanderzalm who is at the helm of FightHST. That province-wide organization saw thousands of people stage simultaneous rallies at a dozen communities across the province. More protests are likely as well as a stepped up public relations campaign intended to win the hearts and minds of British Columbians before the BC Liberal government brings in legislation next spring to make the HST the law of the lad.
You can watch Vanessa read her statement as well as Vanderzalm’s by clicking on The Current Video on the front page of The Revelstoke Current or by clicking on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrUBQ1_pQpk.