B.C. Liberals misled voters on HST, say critics

Internal emails indicate the party was discussing the hated tax before they were elected, but they didn’t reveal it as party policy until after they took power.

B.C. Finance Minister Colin Hansen has repeatedly said the harmonized sales tax was not on the Liberals’ radar before they were elected in May 2009. But internal emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that party bureaucrats were in contact with Ottawa about the HST as early as March, 2009. The tax was implemented in B.C. in July 2009, and is widely hated in the province. Hansen said the emails simply show the Liberals were inquiring about the details of the HST deal Ottawa reached with Ontario, and that the party didn’t decide to implement the tax until after they were elected.