Editor: I am writing in response to the letter that Mary Polak, MLA for 91原创 wrote (The Times, June 22).

The second sentence infers that we are currently paying 10 per cent HST, when in fact we are paying 12 per cent HST. This is equivalent to saying 鈥測es鈥� to getting rid of it, which will return our taxes to five per cent GST and seven per cent PST, which according to my math is 12 per cent.

The very next sentence refers to all the 鈥渕isinformation鈥� that is out there on this subject. She has in fact misinformed your readers with her statement that we should be keeping the 10 per cent HST.

The HST will not go to 10 per cent until 2014. I would venture to say that when that year comes around, the Liberal government will find some reason why they have to backtrack on that promise. We will probably be faced with an increased HST, rather than a reduced one.

The ads that are currently running on TV and radio also refer to the fact that we are currently paying 10 per cent HST, which is false advertising because it is a blatant lie.  It is unfortunate that the government assumes that we are all stupid and do not see through their deception.

I will be voting 鈥測es鈥� in the referendum because it would be much better for people in B.C. to go back to the old tax system, because we would not be paying tax on items that we did not pay on before, but do now with the HST.  When Gordon Campbell and the then-finance minister announced the HST, they indicated that if we did not pay GST on an item we would not be paying HST on that item.

That too was a lie 鈥� the HST has been applied to everything we paid PST on before, and that means we now pay GST on items that were not GST taxable before.

Polak also states in her letter that Bill Vander Zalm is providing misleading information, claiming that by ending the HST the average family will save money. Of course, we will save money, because we will no longer be paying GST on items that we now pay HST on. Do the math people 鈥� she is misleading you.

How can she say that they have changed the HST, when in fact it is still 12 per cent. Their plans calls for it to go to 11 per cent in 2012 and 10 per cent in 2014.

They seem to think they are doing everyone a big favour by sending out cheques for $175 for each child under 18 鈥� that hardly seems fair given the amount of extra tax those very same families are paying now.  How do they calculate that the average family will save $120 per year with the HST compared to the old system? Just about everything is taxable now, but under the old system there was no GST on a lot of products the average family buys.

She also states that Vander Zalm isn鈥檛 telling people what will happen if we return to the old 12 per cent GST plus PST system? Then she states that this is a choice between a 10 per cent HST (in the future) and a 12 per cent PST plus GST. Sounds like she is a bit confused.

The PST in B.C. is only seven per cent 鈥�  is she inferring that if we kill the HST that the government intends to increase the PST by five per cent to be able to collect money to repay the federal government the $3 billion that she claims it will cost us to get rid of the HST?

I thought the federal government gave the B.C. government $1.6 billion in return for this huge tax grab. Did I miss something?

Do not be fooled by the Liberals and their fast talk. They are doing no one any favours. Who is trying to confuse whom here? It looks like Polak is more confused than anyone else.

I am tired of the lies.

A. Crawford,

91原创