To the Editor,
The idea of the HST is, I guess, that taxation should be based on the ‘user pay’ principle. The more you spend the more you pay.
Fair? Our provincial government apparently thinks so.
Then why stop at a user pay tax on hydro, on phone, on car repairs, on home maintenance, etc.
How about user pay for parents whose kids use the public school system? They must be the ones who should pay.
Suppose you need health care? Pay your bill yourself; that’s how it used to be in the good old days.
This could go much further, though. In favour of having Canadian forces in Afghanistan or Libya? Mail your cheque straight off to the Defence Department.
On the other hand, governments, both provincial and federal, could just up income tax. Maybe a 10-per cent surcharge would clear our debts.
That extra 10 per cent would cost upper income earners more than lower income earners but isn’t that the way this country used to work? Isn’t that fair?
Christina Nichol
Nanaimo