Skip to main content

British Columbia's Finance Minister, Colin Hansen.Jonathan Hayward

Devotees of the British sitcom Yes Minister, will recognize this truth: When a politician's top unelected adviser tells him he is about to make a courageous decision, that's when the alarm bells should go off.

By the time Canada's former deputy finance minister Rob Wright congratulated B.C. Finance Minister Colin Hansen for his courage on the harmonized sales tax, it was too late for second-guessing.

Mr. Wright applauded Mr. Hansen in a speech last week for not letting the "noise" from an unhappy electorate dissuade him from pressing ahead with "one of the most important public policy achievements in recent times."

It is the luxury of a retired bureaucrat to speak frankly about political challenges in terms that others must reserve for their inside voice.

"These reforms were no-brainers to any informed analyst, but are extraordinarily difficult politically for both [B.C. and Ontario] The marshalling of populist sentiment against such important moves is not unusual or inappropriate in Canada. But the silence of too many who know better is disconcerting to those, like myself, who believe more focused but still politically challenging moves are needed to secure our economic future."

Mr. Hansen said in an interview this week he is able to handle the intense political pressure because he knew from the outset the HST would be a tough sell in the short term. But he is also nurturing hope that the tide will turn before he will face the electorate again.

"By the time the next election rolls around three years from now, I expect there will be evidence that the HST was the right decision for British Columbia and that the negative impacts were significantly less than some people were fearing."

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe