Opinion Volume 76 Issue No. 2 TheReview Wednesday, January 10,1990 — A6 Beyer defends it again: But whose GST is this? Victoria columnist Hubert Beyer says he’s still smarting from the last time he wrote in defence of the proposed Goods and Services Tax. Pity it didn’t stop him from giving it another stab, as you’ll see by reading a column of his published this week on Page A19. Beyer goes to great lengths to outline the wonderful success of New Zealand’s value-added tax — but he forgets the very thing that is the flaw of his argument: Canada isn’t New Zealand. : The labor party way, way south set the GST there at 10 per cent, three per cent higher than Canada’s will be. Beyer writes: “Simultaneously, the govemment lowered personal income taxes and increased welfare rates by five per cent. Unemployment insurance benefits were also increased.” If the Canadian government matches the same offsetting moyes when the GST is introduced here, perhaps it will also match New Zealand’s 65 per cent approval rate from the people after just three weeks of taxation. But we doubt it. In New Zealand, the labor party had just taken over the reins of government after the voters had turfed a goverment it wasn’t happy with. But Canadians turfed the Liberals five years ago. And then Canadians waited — and even re-clected Mulroney, Wilson and the rest of the Tories. Since 1984, the county’s debt has grown about $125 billion — and 1989 expenditures will add about another $30 billion to that. Canadians have seen more taxation and more -debt since a govemmment committed to debt reduction took power. The govemment’s record doesn’t give much credibility to the idea that the GST will be good for Canada. The Tories have increased taxation, ostensibly to fight the deficit, and increased spending at the same time. The figures prove that that doesn’t work so well. Reducing the country’s debt has been likened to tuming a huge freighter around in the St. Lawrence. Well, the captain hasn’t turned his ship around yet. And he’s refueling. A value-added tax might help — if only the dam ship was pointing the right way. New Zealand’s GST may be a great thing. There. But that doesn’t mean Canada’s will be a great thing, here. Sort of like comparing kiwis with apples, isn’t it Hubert? Tax reform hearings: What will the result be? Public hearings are effective instruments of democracy. Well, at the very least they give people the illusion they’re being listened to. The recent hearings on property tax reform showed British Columbians that Finance Minister Mel Couvelier and then municipal affairs minister Rita Johnston were listening. Trouble is, their responses to the hearings aren’t in the resulting public report. They’re going to cabinet with their words, first. Listening in public, we presume, is safer than responding in public. IN ORDER For THE GOODS &SE WE'LL ALL HAVE TO Do A LOT ... THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BELTS THAT RVICES TAX TO WORK, le NORE BELT-TIGHTENING! | |~ [Sa. TheReview Serving The Saanich Peninsula Since 1912 9781 2nd Street Sidney, B.C V8L 4P8 or PO. Box 2070 Sidney, B.C V8L 3S5 Second Class Mail Registration #0128 656-1151 Publisher: Vic Swan Editor: George Lee AN ISLAND PUBLISHERS NEWSPAPER Bago PRIZEWINNE gS RADIAN COMMun > ch a a