Transparent & Open government? I think not Ms.Clark. HST agreement hard to find with doctored links and empty pages.

Posted on by Laila

In yesterday’s post, I gave you the 2009 and 2010 HST agreements, the ones the BC government doesn’t seem to want you to see anymore.

And you might ask yourself why Ms. Clark, whose mouth seems to spew forth more false promises than a crystal ball, could claim open and transparent government when it is anything but.

Here is what I mean.

In looking for the HST agreement signed in November 2009 by Colin Hansen, one might need a research degree. And one wonders why they are making it so hard to find that agreement for the average person.
 
I posted the two agreements on my site yesterday after discovering how hard it was to find a copy. The original document was at this link, now defunct. https://hst.blog.gov.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/bc_citca_nov09.pdf
 
So, I went looking for a copy, and ended up here: http://www.sbr.gov.bc.ca/business/Consumer_Taxes/Harmonized_Sales_Tax/hst.html#1
 
Scroll down a bit to the following section on that page:

BC Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination Agreement

The Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination Agreement (CITCA) contains the terms and conditions under which BC will participate in the HST with the federal government.
BC CITCA
CITCA Amendment (April 2010)
 
And when you click on either of those links, they go here : http://www.hstinbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/bc_citca_nov09.pdf which of course, is the BC government propaganda site about the HST.  But unfortunately they forgot to rename the file name of the missing document..,
 
So… what to do now? If someone still wants to get this agreement, and you search for it on this  HST information site, what do you think happens?
 
Enter CITC into the search function and you get a few links.. like this one:
http://www.hstinbc.ca/making_your_choice/faqs/hst-basics/how_is_the_hst_administered_   

( this link has now been altered since I posted this story– here isthe cached version of what I saw earlier this afternoon ) Click on How the HST is administered- damn they work fast! )
 
Of course, now you see the agreement highlighted, how great, how wonderful, finally some truth… but alas, click on that link and this is what you get: http://www.hstinbc.ca/ 

Yes indeed, back to the  main HST website. And I have taken print screens of all of this, which I have saved if need be to show their duplicity. It is really quite tragic, the extent to which they have gone to keep you from seeing that agreement. Can’t have the people figuring out where this tax is all headed now, can we?
 
You can not easily find that agreement anywhere, in fact if you use the search function on the BC government website, it brings up nothing at all for the actual PDF document if you use the search term “CITC”, it will only bring it up if you search by the full agreement name- not something most average people will know to search.

 In fact, although the link shows it is a HST IN BC file, it does not seem to exist on the HST in BC Site at the above links. I tried every one. My copy was downloaded from a google cached version I located on the web, in case the original changed.

Of course, the reason behind all of this duplicity is that if you read the agreement, it is clear that the government can just as easily raise that tax – as can the feds – something the government has never  really mentioned in all their talk of reducing it over the next couple years. Actually, they’ve really never talked about it at all.

 It’s that crucial part about  how much they could and likely would jack it up after that period of reduced taxation, that is missing from all their information… which is why that agreement must not be shown on the HST information site.

You don’t have to have a degree in business or finance to understand the basic premise of raising the tax down the line, which is why it is imporant for every British Columbian who is eligible to vote in the referendum, to  take the time to actually read those agreements. You don’t need to pay attention to the formulas, and the complicated items, just those items I listed in the blog post linked to at the top of this story, or scroll down to yesterday’s story right below.

But then again, what more would you expect from the woman who still denies any involvement or knowledge related to the sale of BC Rail, despite more information coming to light from fellow blogger Alex Tsakumis?   Or the woman not capable of speaking to any important environmental issue in the province?

Families first? Sure… right after she sells what is left of BC right off the map.

14 thoughts on “Transparent & Open government? I think not Ms.Clark. HST agreement hard to find with doctored links and empty pages.”

  1. Thanks Laila…I found the same issues early this morning whilst looking for “the real McCoy”. I got so damn mad I had to leave it alone for a while. A pox on all their houses!

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  2. They are clearly working on misling you all further, as I just had to go back and show the google cache version of a link I saw this morning, that has since been changed ..lol.. thank god for Print screen and google cache.

    Yes, Christy sure brought change to the BC liberals… only in the name of their leader. The lies, the duplicity, the arrogance is still the same, as this clearly shows!!

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  3. Great work Laila! Much appreciated for your work toward accountability.
    The lies our government spews is appalling and equally embarrassing for our culture as a whole.
    Again, thank you for bringing the deceit to light.

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  4. Right on girl – takes many people like you – to tell the truth to British Columbians – keep up the great work – I will forward this on to everyone on my email list and ask them to do the same

    EVERYONE – WHEN YOU READ THIS – PLEASE PASS IT ON – THIS SHOULD GO VIRAL AND ALL OF BRITISH COLOMBIANS SHOULD KNOW JUST HOW WE ARE BEING DUPED. We have stood up to be counted – now we will see how democracy work – I hope!!

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  6. This, similar, ‘above board’ and ‘open’ policy infuriates me.
    “Smart meters should have been reviewed by the B.C. Utilities Commission, which could have held public hearings to debate all issues. The B.C. government last year passed special legislation to exempt the smart-meter program and other projects from review by the commission.”
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-hydro-agrees-to-modify-smart-meter-program/article2089073/
    More governing over, instead of governing for. Transparency, as in I can see right through it.

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  7. And re “smart meters” – they are an invasion of privacy and a potential health hazard – hence no debate or discussion !

    Some democracy eh !

    British Columbia’s Egyptian Day is getting ever closer when the people decide they are fed up with the total BS and lies that this government promotes.

    Thanks

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  9. Very enlightening. If the HST were to be approved in the referendum, we would be stuck with it for good. Because the HST is ‘revenue nuetral’ to business (read members of the Smart Tax Alliance), they would lobby the government to increase the HST whenever more government revenues were needed because it would have absolutely no impact on them. The agreement clearly shows that both Canada and BC can change the rate in the future.

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  10. Just buy a piece of brass mesh like bug screen and put it over the smart meter to PROTECT it from weather and you will also keep the signal in it.
    A nice clean safe meter,kinda smart ?

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  11. great work Laila!
    This government is in a sad state of affairs. They are just continuing the course as set out by Campbell and friends and quite frankly Christy Clarke doesn’t have the ability or cunning needed, if this is the route they choose, to pull it off only Mr. Campbell knows the full extent of it.
    In all ways they are doomed to fail because every issue they face has his corrupt mark on it.
    That she said she would have a more honest Government is nothing short of impossible as to do so would surely blow the lid off and send them packing in short order.
    An example is David Hahns compensation and retirement package. This is one man!!! Gordon Campbell ripped up many contracts when first elected but this Government led by Christy Clarke says the can do nothing because he has a binding contract when truth be known Mr. Campbell was using B.C. Ferries to launder money borrowed from German Banks. Mr Hahn has enough on this Government to turn it upside down! They of coarse should call him on it as he wouldn’t come out of it unscathed but they won’t because they want to hide all of this from the public so better to let him have his money in hopes it will go away.
    The correct thing to do is of course remove this ridiculous pension if right or wrong or the public’s interest is your concern. Doing that would have said much to a bewildered public but no they choose to continue the charade.
    It seems there is just issue after issue with this government and after ten years of it we are all weary, the HST of course is front and center! Appreciate that you brought this information to us and made it all the clearer why we must vote “yes” to get rid of this tax.
    Don

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  12. The Lieberal subterfuge on the HST can be little more than a last gasp to conceal their years of corporate giveaway and fiscal lunacy.

    All of their desperate gambits from the BC Rail theft, the salmon farm fiasco, the forest lands dispersals, the P3 ponzi schemes, the ferry freeforall, the IPP/ROR deceits, the gambling expansions, the pacific gateway ruse, the ICBC scams, the winter olympics, and god knows what other dirty little criminal acts, have been to disguise the abominable financial ruin they have plunged the province into.

    When Harpo plunked the HST bribe onto their pitiful lap they saw a grand way to permanently hide their improprieties and if not for the blogosphere and the zalm they probably would have escaped full discovery yet again.

    Even their messiah, the hapless Ms. Clark who suffers terminal foot-in-mouth disease, has proven incapable of diverting public scrutiny away from their ongoing malfeasance, and the sense that the end is near is palpable.

    The not so quiet look of desperation on the countenance of the flighty Falcon, reveals just how imminent is their impending demise.

    All that is left now is for the lame stream media to acknowledge their Murdochian complicity and ‘press’ for the painfull but necessary remedies.

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  13. Now that is something to read – thanks – my sentiments exactly – need more people to stand up and speak – now is not the time to turn a deaf ear – what does everyone think about the SMART METER- SEEMS EVERYONE IS QUIET ON THAT FRONT.

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