Over the Edge - September 7 pe] x OWER ThE EDGE PRESENT Every time you write an article for Over the Edge during the Fall 2011 Semester your name will be entered into a draw to win $50. The more times that chances you have to win. You can write articles on anything including film reviews, UNBC clubs, sports, | eeees | aeeee you submit to Over the Edge the more opinions, and even creative writing. So get out your pens and paper and start writing. Contest runs until November 23, 2011. Send all submissions and questions to over-—the-edge@unbc.ca. " herine *s = - -o. QE as i > ‘t\ ne ! ‘ “ inUAUivObseGudusiéugn,” Veeee?e?'?P BRITISH COLUMBIANS VOTE TO ABOLISH THE HST HANNA PETERSEN NEWS EDITOR The Last day of the referen- dum regarding the controversial Har- monized Sales Tax (HST) was August 5th. Shortly after it was announced that British Columbians had officially voted “yes’ to extinguish the tax. BC will now transition back to the former Provincial Sales Tax (PST). The HST has been causing controversy ever since former Premier Gordon Campbell announced his plans to adopt the HST after his party won the 2009 election. This caused widespread rage as Campbell’s announcement dir- ectly contradicted his campaign prom- ises prior to the election. Campbell had said that the HST was not “on his radar” during the election, however documents released later indicated that the BC government had been discussing the HST with the federal government prior to the May 2009 election. Despite the deceit regarding its adoption, the tax itself was controver- sial. This was mainly due to the fact that the tax would make goods and services previously exempt from the PST taxable by another 7%. The anti-HST petition began in April 2010 and was led by former Pre- mier Bill Vander Zalm. It’s intent was to force the government to hold a referen- dum. The petition was signed by 10% of registered voters in each of BC’s 85 rid- ings. It was the first petition in the province’s history to achieve the quota needed to force a referendum. One point six million people voted in the by-mail referendum, which is 52% of the electorate. Of those who voted, 54.73% voted to extinguish the HST and 45.27% voted to keep it in place. After the results were re- leased, Vander Zalm said the loss of the HST should have little impact on the province. “Business isn’t going away. The little business will benefit because consumers will have more money to spend.” The BC Business Council was highly in favour of the tax as it was beneficial for big business. “We are unquestionably disappointed but don’t have the luxury in today’s uncertain times to revisit the past,” said the Coun- cil’s CEO Greg D’ Avignon. “We need to move on to deal with the real challenges facing BC’s economy and it’s people if we are to achieve our full potential.” However NDP deputy leader Libby Davies has said that this referen- dum is a great victory for British Col- umbians who believe that honesty is important in politics. “They have clearly said they want to reverse the Harper Govern- ment’s cynical move to force the HST on the people of our province. Conserv- atives better listen.” New Premier Christy Clark didn’t let the referendum go down with- out a fight, however. She introduced a few “fixes” to win over those opposed to the tax. The fixes included lower- ing the HST to 11% in 2012 and 10% in 2014. She also announced one-time transition payments that would be made to families with children under 18 and low income seniors. However, the polish on the controversial tax wasn’t shiny enough and the BC electorate still voted to scrap it. THE INTERNET KILLS THE VIDEO STORE The Digital Age Forces Movie-Rental Giant Blockbuster to Close Up Shop HANNA PETERSEN NEWS EDITOR Blockbuster’s remaining stores are set to disappear from the Canadian retail scene as the digital age is relentlessly rendering the dvd rental business to be ob- solete. Blockbuster will soon close it’s 253 remaining retail locations due to a lack of investment interest in the struggling company as its US counterpart changes ownership and did not bring the Canadian chain on board. Blockbuster was a very large company during its day which means that a lot of retail jobs will be lost due to the store closures. An estimated 2,500 people will looser their jobs in these final retail location closures. Alternatives to the traditional way of renting and buying movies have been growing stronger for years. Now the convenience of downloading or renting a movie from itunes or digital cable alternatives has made the act of traveling to a blockbuster chain finding a copy of the movie to be rather cumbersome. The retail chain however, has not adjusted well to the changing market. At times it has almost ignored the changing nature of digital sales and services. Retail giant HMV which once only sold tangible copies of music has gradually changed over the years to include games, headphones, t-shirts and other merchan- dise in its stores to compensate for the lack of music sales. Youtube, Facebook, and Amazon are a few big names that are trying to stake their claim in the emerging online Movie-rental business. However, there will still be that margin of the market that won’t bother with any of the alternatives and download desired content illegally. This is the only Blockbuster left in town, but soon engough it will be gone. SHELBY PETERSEN