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It's a little more than disingenuous for Mr. Cowan.

this paper's Editor to complain when his newspapers benefited handsomely from all the partisan advertising generated by the referendum. The first thing they published AFTER a majority of British Columbians voted to get rid of it, was another piece on how good the HST was! Sure, you'll remember the details in 4 years time (after all the new, 'empty' promises have been made). Ever since the Ontario courts held that the only place we can hold politicians accountable for lying to us is the ballot box, we have had to be on our 'A' game. What kind of message do you think it sends to them each time we simply let them get away with outright lying to us?!? Any disruption due to the introduction of the HST and its repeal should be on the heads of the government that wouldn't debate or listen - don't even try to put that on the people of British Columbia! If I could, I would also make them personally responsible for any and all costs involved! "this is what makes Canada the best country in the world" - sorry to burst your utopian bubble but, according to latest Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, we are only 21st and on the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, we weigh in at 6th. If we are going to do better, we ALL need to 'put our shoulders to the wheel'. Perhaps the seniors who voted against the HST can remember back to a time when politicians actually represented US and brought that to the government and then lobbied for it. Some of them probably still recall when Canadians fought and many died to preserve our democratic way of life. "we would all be better served by whining less about govt and putting that energy into getting on with our lives" - and how we are governed isn't a big part of having that ability?! Wow, one restaurant owner claims that her sales have increased with the HST, well, that settles it then, we surely made a mistake! Yes, our referendums have turned out to be less-than-perfect, but that is not the concept's fault but how we imperfect humans have chosen to implement them. Being allowed to change the Citizen's Initiative by 'sweetening the pot', no limits on third-party lobbying spending, allowing lots of misinformation to be disseminated, etc. What I am most surprised about is those people who can't seem to understand that, when a 'revenue neutral' tax all of a sudden became an essential revenue-generating tax necessary to support our public services, something wasn't right! Before we rush to support this government in bringing in a significant tax increase, we need answers to a bunch of questions - how can we introduce efficiencies in order to increase revenue and/or decrease expenses, what are our priorities in terms of services, etc. There was no debate in the Legislature on this tax or discussion amongst the public about what such a major shift in tax policy would really mean, yet some of you have somehow become convinced that, without it, we are doomed. Come on people, we need you to focus here!! "let the government of the day rule and deal with them in 4 years" - sorry, but I am not that naive and neither should you be! It is my belief that this all went exactly the way it was planned from the start except for the part where we came out of our stupor and rose up. Governments govern at the will and with the support of the people - sometimes we need to tell them that they are failing miserably in that sacred trust. Mr. Cowan should be thankful that he now lives in a place that still attributes some value to the idea of democracy. At least we are not all 'sheeple'!

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