"Transparency" and "openness".
Those were the promises in the infamous "New Era Document" from the 2001 election. Yeah, I know that was 9 years and two elections ago, but every time the issue of a government cover-up arises, I can't help but think that the BC Liberals ran on a promise of "open" and "transparent" governance.
Not that it is exactly clear what those two words mean when talking about government. I mean, what exactly is "transparent governance" anyway? But I suspect the vast majority of British Columbians would expect it to mean that the government wouldn't lie to the electorate.
That when asked a direct question - "When did you start discussions about implementing the HST?" - the BC Liberals would answer with a direct statement - "January 16, 2009".
We know that this is one of the dates involved in the lead up to the 2009 election. In the briefing notes from a First Minister's meeting in Ottawa, the BC Liberals recognize the potential economic benefit of harmonizing with the GST, but the party "continues to have concerns".
They do go on to say: "However, harmonization continues to present very real challenges including a loss of provincial tax policy flexibility, the real and perceived shift in the tax burden from business to individuals, a lack of support from some business sectors, the need to protect low income individuals and families from tax increases, and the need to ensure adequate revenues."
Good set of concerns, that.
The sort that might make any reasonable government seriously question the value of going forward with an HST. The sort of that might make a Minister of Finance want more information so that the government could form a rational and appropriate response to the question of implementing the HST.
That, according to Colin Hansen, didn't happen. Instead, his staff put together briefing notes for his consideration of which he now says: "Nothing that was ever done on the HST file by public servants was done at the request of anybody at the political level."
That is a scary statement in many ways. A major initiative changing the tax structure of the province, proposed at a First Minister's conference and apparently of "concern" to the BC Liberals, and no one thought to gather more information? Seriously?
Or maybe it was left to the civil servants to use their initiative to collect information and only present the results to Minister Hansen - in which case, how can he say that he was not aware of the information prior to the election?
And if nothing was being done on the HST file, then how is it three days after the election, senior bureaucrats were in Ottawa, negotiating the terms of the HST?
Either the civil service is running amok and has taken over control of the government or the Minister was part of the discussions prior to the election and is now prevaricating. Neither prospect is at all appealing. And both provide further evidence that the HST is a bad idea.
Add to this the assessment of a CD Howe study cited by the BC Liberals in a briefing document from March of 2009: "The study suggests that it may take five or more years before the [HST's] impact on GDP is positive and even longer for real wages and job numbers to recover."
Come again? This is "the single biggest thing we can do to improve B.C.'s economy" according to the Premier and yet, it is going to leave us with a negative impact on the GDP for five years and an even longer time period in which there will be a loss in real wages? I would hate to think what their second choice was!
We also have the Minister of Finance now telling us that the HST will generate some 113,000 jobs. No one knows where that number is coming from. Maybe it is out of the same briefing notes that weren't on his radar prior to the last election. But clearly there is more here than meets the eye.
This is what is so troubling about the whole issue of the HST. As I have said before, I think that it is a bad tax and a significant shift in tax policy at the wrong time. But even worse is the continual denial by the BC Liberals that they ran an election campaign on false premises. The whole scandal and cover-up is just plain wrong. It stinks.
It is certainly not the type of transparent and open government that they originally promised. Maybe power does corrupt. And maybe absolute power has corrupted the BC Liberals absolutely. But we certain don't have "transparency" and "openness" in governance.
