Editor: Re: “Let’s Recall MLAs over HST,” (letters, The Times, Aug. 26).

In his letter, Travis Erbacher suggests that a “legislature with Conservatives and Greens in the mix” would present a different fiscal policy. It may come as a surprise to many (but it shouldn’t to Mr. Erbacher) that the Green Party included the HST as part of its platform in the recent 2009 provincial election. In a recent interview with CBC Almanac, Green leader Jane Sterk described her long history of support for the HST, saying “it’s been a part of our policies since 2004.” (CBC — Aug. 21, 2009)

The election platform of the B.C. Conservatives’ also promoted the HST, committing a BC Conservative government to “aggressively investigating the benefits of harmonizing the B.C. PST with the federal GST,” and arguing that “businesses are overburdened with the collection of various taxes for government. Duplicating administrations are wasteful and onerous.” Furthermore, the HST “will help spur investment and reduce government and business administrative costs.” (BC Conservative Party platform, page 9.)

The decision to adopt the HST was not an easy one for our BC Liberal government. We had rejected the plan prior to the election for good reasons. It required increasing the PST portion to eight per cent, applying it to motor fuels and with no transition dollars available.

When, after the election, the federal Conservative government removed our reasons for rejecting it and knowing that their offer of $1.6 billion in transition dollars would go a long way toward helping us to protect vital services, we decided that in spite of the likely political damage, it was the right decision.

It is important to remember that just as the vast majority of things we buy everyday are subject to both GST and PST, so too, the vast majority of things we buy everyday will not be impacted by the change to HST.

Additional money to support seniors and others with limited incomes as well as rebates to offset real estate costs will help to ease the change for many. For other businesses, discussions will continue over the coming months as we work to make the shift to HST less challenging.

There is no question that in the short term the transition will be difficult for some businesses. Nevertheless, there is also no question that the long term benefits to B.C. families from increased jobs and investment as well as lower prices on goods and services makes the HST an important tool that will help to bring our province through this global crisis back to a strong economic footing.

Mary Polak,

MLA,

Langley