NDP shreds Dalton McGuinty over HST
June 05, 2010
Tanya Talaga - Toronto Star
Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman (Thornhill) said goods that will be subject to HST include some necessities of life, such as energy costs, and that will impact those on fixed incomes.
NDP shreds Dalton McGuinty over HST
June 05, 2010
Tanya Talaga - Toronto Star
The Liberal government?s month-long campaign to promote the HST made a pit stop at Queen?s Park Friday but the publicity plans were derailed by the NDP.
Revenue Minister John Wilkinson symbolically shredded hundreds of pieces of paper, representing 5,000 pages of outdated regulations and operating procedures he says will disappear when the HST comes into force on July 1.
The 13 per cent harmonized sales tax will combine the 8 per cent provincial sales tax with the 5 per cent federal goods and services tax.
Junk food and value meals under $4 are exempt from the HST, however, along with newspapers, books, coffee, children?s clothing and booster seats and feminine hygiene products.
Taxes on 83 per cent of products - including groceries - will not change.
For the month of June, Liberal MPPs and cabinet ministers will take their campaign throughout Ontario, targetting Progressive Conservative ridings in particular to point out what they say is the hypocrisy of the Tory position on the tax.
The federal Tories helped implement the coming HST.
The Liberals say the new tax combined with $4.6 billion in business tax relief will create 600,000 new jobs.
A one-tax system makes businesses more competitive by removing hidden taxes and reducing the costs of making products, Wilkinson said.
?This is all about getting people back to work. We have to do what is required in the 21st century to have 21st century jobs,? Wilkinson said.
?We have sent as strong a signal as possible to the business community that this is the right place to invest in.?
Political critics say the HST is nothing more than a ?tax grab?.
Immediately after Wilkinson?s press conference in the Queen?s Park media studio, the NDP rolled in their own, much more modest, paper shredder.
NDP MPP Peter Kormos (Welland) said the HST will cost families nearly $800 a year. He shredded mock $20 bills bearing Premier Dalton McGuinty?s smiling face.
?Dalton McGuinty and the HST are shredding people?s wallets,? Kormos said.
Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman (Thornhill) said goods that will be subject to HST include some necessities of life, such as energy costs, and that will impact those on fixed incomes.
To offset the impact of the HST on consumers, the government has introduced income tax reductions and plans to distribute a one-time $1,000 rebate.