Instead he won in a walk, in a by-election in which only about 25% of eligible voters bothered to come out. Neither the proposed Harmonized Sales Tax nor the scandals at e-Health or the Ontario Lottery Corporation seemed to exercise them much.
For those who have been asleep, the HST is being put into place by Ontario's Liberal government at the behest of "Call me Steve" Harper's federal Tories, to take effect next summer. The McGuinty Liberals, having resisted harmonization for years, say that we need it now because of the recession. So will it be dismantled when the recession is over? Don't hold your breath!
What they're saying down at Tim's is that it doesn't matter, because we're already paying 13%in taxes -- 8% to the province and 5% to the feds. What they don't seem to realize is that many ordinary, everyday things are presently exempt from the provincial sales tax. When the HST goes into effect, you'll see an immediate 8% increase in the cost of a haircut, a newspaper and your daily double-double!
Doesn't anyone care about this? In other countries they'd be out marching in the streets. The only marching we see in Ontario is during multicultural festivals!
Here's a twist! It's just possible that the voters may be smart enough to place the blame for the HST squarely where it should like -- with the Tories!
A poll in today's online Toronto Star asks "Will the introduction of a harmonized sales tax be a key issue for you in the next federal election?" As I write, the tally is "Yes" 63%, "No" 36%. Harper has been a study in silence, leaving McGuinty to take the flak for this blatant tax grab, but perhaps we hosers won't be taken in, after all.
Footnote: Chantal Hébert has an excellent column in today's Toronto Star making this same point. And we didn't even discuss it before sitting down at our respective keyboards!
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