 |
MLAs Doug Routley and Lana Popham standing in front of
Capital City Bikes at the finish of one of our
‘No HST on BIKES in BC’ rallies |
Dear Cyclists,
Thank you for joining
with me to fight the government and make cycling more affordable in BC.
Our activism
helped highlight a significant problem with the HST and strengthened the larger
battle against it.
With the end of
BC's HST on April 1 2013, the PST exemption on bikes, bike repairs and bike
equipment has been restored.
Our cycling
bills are now 7% less expensive.
A little
context:
For almost
thirty years, bikes (and bike expenses like repairs, helmets and locks) have
been PST exempt. Why? Because successive governments agreed it made no sense to
tax such a healthy and environmentally-friendly form of transportation.
This rationale
has only become stronger over time as we’ve learned more about the benefits of
healthy living and the importance of reducing our carbon emissions. The more we
can encourage people to ride bikes rather than drive cars, the better it is for
everyone. It means less traffic congestion, less wear and tear on our roads and
potentially lower health-care costs.
That was why I
took the fight to the government on this issue. With your help we forced them
to justify how jacking up the price of a bike is going to help make B.C. more
sustainable or encourage more people to make healthy lifestyle choices. We
forced them to explain how this action advanced their so-called Climate Action
Plan? And of course they couldn’t.
A government
that increases taxes on green transportation is a government traveling in the
wrong direction.
It was my
privilege to work on this issue. I took the lead on everything from creating a
network of bike shops and bike enthusiasts across the province, developing and
promoting a petition (that gathered 5000+ signatures) and organizing several
rallies, one of which brought together hundreds of people at the Legislature
and drove a lot of media attention to the issue.
There is much
more that we can and should do to encourage cycling in BC. I look forward
to hearing your views on how this can be done and also to sharing with you my
own perspective.
For now let me
just say: squeaky wheels got the grease!
Lana Popham
MLA Saanich
South
