The HST shuffle announced by the BC Liberals today proves they will do anything and say anything to save the HST – a tax they promised not to bring in before the last election but did anyway.

“This is not a plan to protect BC Families,” said North Coast MLA Gary Coons.”It is a plan to protect the BC Liberal Party. They lied , they deceived and now they continue in the same vain. How can anyone trust this government on any issue… never mind the HST?”

British Columbians can't trust the BC Liberals to follow through with anything they say. They have lost all credibility on tax policy.

They have caused chaos and uncertainty to the BC economy with the HST, and today's announcement does nothing to fix that.

‘Today's announcement is a grab bag of numbers and gimmicks designed to convince British Columbians that what is bad for them is actually good for them,” said Coons. ‘The HST is a permanent tax shift from big business on to consumers. And now we small businesses bearing the brunt of this gimmick, paying $280 million more in taxes each year.”

The rebate cheques and rate cut are a desperate attempt to buy people's votes in the upcoming referendum and the expected Fall election.

In order for BC families to see the benefits of today's announcement, they'll have to re-elect the BC Liberals and then hope for the best with a government that has a proven track record of breaking their promises and lying to British Columbians.

The raise in corporate taxes included in today's announcement proves what a winfall the HST is to big business – they are willing to swallow a temporary corporate tax increase to save the HST and its huge benefits to big business, while they have shown they are prepared to sell out Small Business.

“I would encourage British Columbians to send a strong message to this BC Liberal government that you must consult and listen to your constituents,” said Coons. ” Vote YES to extinguish and stop the HST. This is the people’s vote and the people should not be swayed by expensive taxpayer ads or gimmicks that try to sway your vote.”

Elections BC plans to send out the HST referendum ballots between June 13 and June 24. Voting will close on July 22 and all ballots must be sent back to Elections BC by 4:30 pm on that day.

The government announced they plan to roll back the HST to 11% in July 2012, and to 10% in July 2014.

They will issue cheques to families this year to offset the costs of the HST. $175 per child to families with kids; $175 to seniors with an income of less than $40,000.

Their plan to pay for part of the cost of this announcement is to temporarily roll back corporate income tax rates to 2008 levels, from 10% to 12% as of January 1, 2012; and to postpone the planned cut to the small business tax rate (planned to go from 2.5% to 0% on April 1, 2012).

Referendum calendar:

June 13-24 - An HST Referendum Voting Package is mailed to each registered voter in B.C.

July 8 - Last day to request an HST Referendum Voting Package

July 22 - Close of voting – All ballot packages must be received by Elections BC, a Service BC Centre or an Elections BC Collection Centre before 4:30 p.m.