There is plenty of heat, but not too much light being shed on the surprise decision by the B.C. Liberal government to convert the provincial sales tax to a BCGST.

Some popular acronyms are emerging. There is the BST, which of course stands for blended sales tax. Restaurant owners might prefer the BLT, or big lie tax.

A protester stood behind NDP leader Carole James at a rally in Surrey last week, her sign urging the proletariat to “axe the harmony tax.” The slogan is recycled from the party’s failed “axe the carbon tax” effort. (More on the NDP in a moment.)

Much has been written about Premier Gordon Campbell and Finance Minister Colin Hansen’s bald-faced effort to convince voters that they had a sudden conversion to a harmonized sales tax after the election.

This is just as believable as Hansen’s last fart in the elevator. That’s the one where he insisted that he got a phone call from Ottawa in June telling him that, well, there’s this recession thingy and corporations apparently have some dimly understood ability to take tax benefits retroactively, and well, the deficit might be a tetch bigger than they promised in May.

More cackles erupted in the legislative press gallery last week after Hansen told a reporter he was so busy in March that he didn’t have a chance to Google up the Ontario government’s announcement that it was going to move to the HST.

But by then, Hansen noted, he was locked in trench warfare to keep his home turf of Dunbar and Kerrisdale from falling to the socialist hordes. He managed to hold this swing riding with 70 per cent of the vote, one of the largest margins of victory of any MLA. Whew.

And I’m pretty sure the ministry has staff to watch these taxing matters, keep in touch with Ottawa, and give him nice briefing notes. The staggering layoff of eight public affairs bureau staff had not yet occurred, and when it did last week, finance was not affected.

Government marketing folks were among the casualties. This is pertinent to the HST debate in that there has been speculation about a “best tax on Earth” ad campaign to ease the toxic poll numbers. Fugeddaboudit. No budget, and now in effect no department to do that.

I requested some facts from the finance ministry to go along with all the opinions. What, I asked, is the impact on an average B.C. family? Answer: it depends on many factors, income and so forth. Prices should go down as business benefits. Examples are being developed now.

Won’t individuals generally pay more as business pays less? No comment.

What about renters? HST does not apply to rent, but as of July 1, 2010 landlords must pay it on utility bills and any repairs or maintenance. New rental construction will get an exemption. 

Will it be revenue neutral? When he announced it, Hansen said government revenues will drop initially, then climb to a slight net increase. Now the answer is, wait for the Sept. 1 budget update.

When this sizzler landed on the barbecue, my first question for NDP finance critic Bruce Ralston was: are you for it or agin’ it? Can’t say yet, he replied, blindsided like everyone else.

Well now they’re agin’ it, and voters again find the NDP campaigning against a new tax. They’ll focus on the “regressive” nature of consumption taxes, and the B.C. Liberals will point to low-income rebates.

It will all be theatre. Some 300 B.C. PST collectors are migrating to federal employment. Get used to the harmony tax.

Tom Fletcher is legislative reporter and columnist for Black Press newspapers. tfletcher@blackpress.ca