Yesterday I signed the HST Petition. It felt good participating in direct citizen driven democracy, but it wasn’t a decision I took lightly.

I didn’t do it because I dislike the Liberals. I don’t like them, but that’s beside the point.

I didn’t do it because I dislike taxes. I appreciate what taxes pay for and actually think I should be paying more taxes.

I signed the petition because I think the HST is a bad tax for the environment. The HST represents a tax shift from goods to services. It benefits manufacturers and lumber companies, and punishes restaurants and hair dressers. For the environment’s sake, we need to move away from a consumerist society focused on always buying new stuff.

Worse still, the HST will increase the price of bikes and bike gear by 7%. Cycling equipment is currently PST exempt, but come July 1, it will be taxed at the full 12% HST. The BC Government was only able to keep 5 PST exemptions, and they chose to exempt fossil fuels instead of bikes. So much for the progressive government who introduced the carbon tax.