Canadian politics thread

[spoon.ek9]

Originally Posted by 68style

One of my softball teammates told me to “wake up” the other day in our off season chat thread in relation to the crossing.

I really thought that term had finally died with all the nutjobs.

You could have just trolled him and replied with "but if I wake up, does that mean I'm now woke??"





Serious question though, can someone explain to me the benefits of HST? I know we all made a big stink against it the first time it was implemented here (with zero input from any of us).

[bcrdukes]

There's always a trade-off. Since a majority of the membership base is in BC, implementing the HST in British Columbia could lead to annual savings of approximately $150 million in administrative costs for businesses. Although BC initially adopted the HST in 2010, it was repealed in 2013 after a referendum. The HST was found to have potentially increased costs for families compared to the separate GST and PST system. However, its benefits for business efficiency could still be significant if reconsidered in the future.

Benefit: $150M in savings, not having useless gov't employees waste taxpayer money
Who loses: Regular people because people who think they are rich, are not, and should be spending their money more wisely.

[BIC_BAWS]

I'm in favor of HST, greatly due to the business benefit of it. While it could be 1-3% more than status quo in BC, I could see business spending increase with HST implemented as businesses would be able to deduct the entire tax amount from their remittance.

Current Calculation

GST/HST Collected - GST/HST on Expenses (ITC) = GST/HST to Remit to Federal Government

PST Collected is remitted in full without any deductions for expenses to provincial bodies (BC, MB, SK, QC)

Proposed for October 2026, in light of the BC Budget, professional services (ie. accounting/bookkeepers, etc) will have to charge 7% PST for their services to bolster the deficit.

Numerical Example under Current Tax Structure

Sales = $100,000
GST Collected = $5,000

Asset Expenditure = $55,000
GST on Expense = $2,750

PST on Expense = $3,850
Total Value of Asset Expenditure = $58,850

Total GST Remittance = $5,000 - $2,750 = $2,250

Numerical Example under a HST 13% Structure

Sales = $100,000
HST Collected = $13,000

Total Value of Asset Expenditure = 55,000
HST on Expense = $7,150

Total HST Remittance = $13,000 - $7,150 = $5,850

While the remittance amount looks like more money out of a company's account, tax collected on behalf of the government is NOT the business' money. This structure allows the business to fully use the tax "credit" on the expenditure, rather than just giving it away on both sales (if finished goods to consumers) and expenses to the BC provincial government.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by spoon.ek9

Serious question though, can someone explain to me the benefits of HST? I know we all made a big stink against it the first time it was implemented here (with zero input from any of us).

HST is a value-added tax and VATs are really efficient taxes that are neutral towards types of consumption. I'll steal from Google for the longer explanation:

Key Reasons Economists Favor VAT

Efficiency and Growth: By taxing consumption rather than income, a VAT avoids the "double taxation" of savings and investment. This promotes capital accumulation, which many economists believe is essential for long-term economic growth.

Broad Revenue Base: A VAT can raise significant amounts of revenue even at relatively low rates because it applies to nearly all goods and services throughout the supply chain.

Administrative Evasion Resistance: Because businesses have an incentive to report their input costs to claim tax credits for the VAT they have already paid to suppliers, the system creates a "self-enforcing" paper trail that makes tax evasion more difficult compared to traditional retail sales taxes.

Neutrality: A well-designed VAT is generally considered neutral regarding international trade. Imports are taxed at the same rate as domestic goods, while exports are typically zero-rated (meaning the VAT paid on inputs is rebated), ensuring domestic production is not disadvantaged on the global market.

[spoon.ek9]

I'll reframe the question: how does HST benefit your every day people?

All these answers appear to be for business benefits. Some of us have absolutely no ties to the business world lol.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by spoon.ek9

I'll reframe the question: how does HST benefit your every day people?

All these answers appear to be for business benefits. Some of us have absolutely no ties to the business world lol.

The benefits to the consumer are a bit less directly tangible but if we assume that taxes are collected regardless then:

You don't have to pay double/triple/quadruple taxes on stuff that you buy compared to a standard sales tax as the tax is applied only on the total value of the product (you could argue the inverse of having to pay tax on something that didn't have taxes on it before though).

Because the tax is applied evenly across everything there's no distortionary effect to your consumption patterns - you won't choose to buy/not buy something because of the tax rate on the two goods you're considering.

I'd argue that having a tax that's not distortionary for either businesses or consumer is a huge benefit for both parties - it's a very clean tax that other than adding cost to something does it evenly so it doesn't affect purchasing or investment decisions.

Same goes with reducing tax evasion - businesses can't easily cheat on taxes in this area so consumers get a more even playing field. Joe Blow down the street doesn't save 7% because they are buddy buddy with someone who takes cash while you pay extra.

One benefit that Canadian consumers don't get from our HST: We don't treat HST as inclusive so that the price listed is the price you pay - in Europe and Australia the price list is what you pay and that's, IMO, a much more honest way of doing business (they also don't believe in tipping).

[68style]

I still have extremely negative feelings about the HST being input the first time around because they used it to up private used car sale tax to 12% and then didn't even take it away after HST got repealed.

[Great68]

As someone who writes up estimates, HST made things SOOOO much simpler.

Add your base costs, apply your markup, and that's your price +HST. Didn't need to worry about it beyond there.

With PST there are so many stupid rules and exemptions, when it applies, when it doesn't, it's very convoluted.

For example, in a normal estimate where we're carrying labour to install the material, we include PST in our base cost of the material. Our markups then apply on top of that PST cost (so it actually increases material costs for the customer).

However, if it's a supply-only (no labour) or for resale we do not carry PST as cost, and instead it's billed separately: IE Price + GST & PST.



Oh then we have to remember about organizations who may have PST exemptions, IE Federal government. Then we need to get and track their PST number, we need to (remember to) tell all of our suppliers that the order is PST exempt etc.

I guarantee that just to be safe there is more PST cost being charged on shit where it shouldn't be, than otherwise.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by 68style

I still have extremely negative feelings about the HST being input the first time around because they used it to up private used car sale tax to 12% and then didn't even take it away after HST got repealed.

The whole rollout was such a disaster - Campbell said before the election that he'd never do it and then ta-da! here it is! I'd love to read a history of what went on in the backrooms that lead Campbell to roll it out the way he did as I can't imagine he didn't have the HST as a consideration before the election.

He bit it from both ends - the Conservatives led by Bill Van der Zalm were able to talk it up as a tax hike while the NDP jumped on it as VATs are generally regressive taxes (hurts the poor and working class more than the rich).

[Traum]

While Campbell was dumb to instantly break his campaign promise, I feel like voters were dumber to force the repealing of the tax despite its benefits.

IMO it was really my first time witnessing the stupidity of the voters first hand in that they actively voted against their own longer term interest. Prior to that, I have always though that society have evolved to the point where logic and sensibility are prevalent enough that it wouldn't sabotage itself on something where the overall benefits seem pretty obvious. Of course, I have witnessed many more of those moments in subsequent years, with Brexit and the two Trump wins taking the cake as some of the most notable examples...

[noclue]

Originally Posted by Traum

While Campbell was dumb to instantly break his campaign promise, I feel like voters were dumber to force the repealing of the tax despite its benefits.

IMO it was really my first time witnessing the stupidity of the voters first hand in that they actively voted against their own longer term interest. Prior to that, I have always though that society have evolved to the point where logic and sensibility are prevalent enough that it wouldn't sabotage itself on something where the overall benefits seem pretty obvious. Of course, I have witnessed many more of those moments in subsequent years, with Brexit and the two Trump wins taking the cake as some of the most notable examples...

Thank the restaurant industry spreading misinformation and fear mongering that diapers and baby formula will go up (they were hst exempt). BC government also said that the HST will be 10% if we kept it during the referendum… and it got rid of the luxury tax.

[68style]

I voted to repeal it because I thought the private car sales tax would go back to just PST... but then they changed PST on used cars to be 12% lol

[Great68]

Originally Posted by Traum

While Campbell was dumb to instantly break his campaign promise, I feel like voters were dumber to force the repealing of the tax despite its benefits.

IMO it was really my first time witnessing the stupidity of the voters first hand in that they actively voted against their own longer term interest. Prior to that, I have always though that society have evolved to the point where logic and sensibility are prevalent enough that it wouldn't sabotage itself on something where the overall benefits seem pretty obvious. Of course, I have witnessed many more of those moments in subsequent years, with Brexit and the two Trump wins taking the cake as some of the most notable examples...

Yeah I don't really understand why it was put to a referendum in the first place.
How many times have governments implemented new taxes or increased/changed existing ones without a referendum, especially when it's something the public wouldn't properly understand, and THIS fucking time they decide to put it to one?

And then it didn't even help them politically with the next election. Christy Clark was fucking dumb and useless as a Premier.

[CivicBlues]

What's with Right-wing female premiers and referenda? It's like they want plausible deniability when shit goes sideways. Christy and her HST, now Danielle Smith and her Alberta referendum on immigration. lolz

[68style]

Not just immigration bro... 10 questions in total from her BS panel research:

https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/2919...rt-2025-12.pdf

It's all just to distract from her massive budget shortfall based on low oil prices... which of course is how the separatists have said we're going to be rich?

[Great68]

Yeah the separatists thinking they'd be better off with their "oil wealth" on their own is hilarious. So instantly they'd lose access/control of their existing pipelines to the east & west coast through the rest of Canada.
The USA would completely squeeze them at that point, because who else can they sell it/pipe it to?

[CivicBlues]

Man you guys coulda been a Norway. Instead you saw Venezuela and said "hmm I think I'll have some of that"

[Traum]

I can't pretend I have any expert knowledge in the Alberta political scene, but one impression I have with their situation is -- the Alberta voter base outside of Calgary and Edmonton seems to overwhelmingly fall into preferring the strong and wrong over the weak and right. And most unfortunately, both Danielle Smith and Naheed Nenshi fall exactly into those steretypical roles as well.

[68style]

I was in a Petro Can last week in Marda Loop near the condo I'm working on and a skid looking thin dude in construction gear and long hair and tats comes in wearing a hat, starts yelling at the girls behind the counter because the air compressor isn't working and they tell him they already called someone to come fix it... he starts bitching and complaining nothing works right in this town bets they didn't even call anyone he can't fill his tires up blah blah where's your manager and I notice his black hat says "MAKE ALBERTA GREAT AGAIN" in black letters on it... so I asked him "Is this how you go about making Alberta great again? Whining about free air?" and he looks me up and down and says "GO FUCK YOURSELF" hahaha always something going on here.

[underscore]

Originally Posted by Traum

I can't pretend I have any expert knowledge in the Alberta political scene, but one impression I have with their situation is -- the Alberta voter base outside of Calgary and Edmonton seems to overwhelmingly fall into preferring the strong and wrong over the weak and right. And most unfortunately, both Danielle Smith and Naheed Nenshi fall exactly into those steretypical roles as well.

The critical and long term thinking skills outside of those cities are basically nonexistant.

[Eff-1]

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/0...ave-out-drugs/

Ken Sim is such a dolt.

Councillor Zhou goes on wechat and accuses some other councillors of being drug dealers.

Of course, those other councillors are infuriated and call the accusations completely false.

So councillor zhou ends up apologizing for putting out misinformation, and the mayor thanks zhou for taking accountability for sharing information that wasn't accurate.

Then today, the story breaks that it was actually the mayor who originally called the other councillors drug dealers back in December LOL

[bcrdukes]

LOL

[supafamous]

Ken Sim is a shitty human being.

[bcrdukes]

WeChat, of all places too. Very secure.

[BIC_BAWS]

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/arti...ent-wednesday/

cLoWnEy dOeSnT dO aNyThInG