On the surface the HST referendum appears so democratic, but in essence it’s much more about political manipulation than about what is good for society.
When the GST was initially instituted by federal Conservatives it should have been blended with PST to capture administrative efficiencies, but politics would not let it happen.
Now it appears local voters who overwhelmingly voted for a right-wing government recently are prepared to join forces with left-wing voters to extinguish the HST, which actually amounts to a blending their party could not get done years ago.
It is also a strange twist for the NDP to follow the lead of a right-wing ex-premier whose tenure they and others fought desperately to terminate because of unsatisfactory leadership.
It appears they are prepared to feed his ego one more time in exchange for some brownie points with voters in upcoming elections.
Then there is the desire at all cost to throw rocks at premier Campbell. Upon reflection, his accomplishments have been rather commendable by comparison.
The problem is he is no longer there. Even if there is the future opportunity for a lower blended PST and GST which right-wing voters would typically embrace and left-wing ones would not, along with lower tax collection costs there is still hesitancy to drop the rocks.
Perhaps the most intelligent vote would be none at all.
J. Janzen