statism watch

Tax ‘fairness’ – to whom, exactly? As is examined in greater depth here, the HST tax was always meant to be the next step after Mulroney’s GST – but it had to go on the backburner since there was such an outcry against the GST at the time. Now that we’ve been conditioned to accept the GST, the political power structure is confident that it can now herd us in the desired direction. You know, whatever the ‘rest of the world’ is doing. (As we hold free trade talks with the EU.) This was decided on, long ago. Only you can stop it by getting involved.

Flashback: Thousands rally against coming HST tax in BC | Flaherty offers taxpayer-funded bribe to adopt HST tax, holdout provinces demur | BC, like Ontario, moves to harmonize taxes | Ontario Liberals pressing to hide new ‘harmonized’ tax in prices | Ontario to merge GST, PST in ‘harmonized’ tax hike | EU approves free-trade talks with Canada | Canada expects EU free-trade talks soon: Stockwell Day | Harper, Sarkozy vow to work toward Canada-EU deal | CD Howe Institute backs Canada-EU deal, deep integration | Towards a new world order: Canada-EU trade proposal rivals scope of NAFTA

Robert Benzie, Toronto Star
September 21, 2009

13% HST: Liberals plan ad campaign this fall to convince voters controversial reform is needed despite fears of higher prices

Buoyed by an easy by-election win last week and emboldened by a largely incoherent opposition, the Liberals are aggressively pushing ahead with their controversial harmonized sales tax.

Stepping up efforts to sell the levy, which blends the 8 per cent provincial sales tax with the 5 per cent federal GST as of July 1, Premier Dalton McGuinty’s government is framing it as a matter of “tax fairness.”

“Ontario cannot afford to fall behind,” said Revenue Minister John Wilkinson, who has been criss-crossing Ontario selling the reforms and is planning an advertising blitz later this fall.

“We’re still listening to music on an eight-track when the rest of the world has an iPod. We can’t attract investment and jobs in the 21st century with a tax system from the 1960s,” Wilkinson told the Toronto Board of Trade last week.

Dr. Eric Hoskins’ by-election victory Thursday in St. Paul’s – a vote opponents billed as an HST referendum – has boosted the Liberals’ confidence about a tax that will increase the price of gasoline, home heating fuel, newspapers, fast-food value meals, funerals, legal services and hundreds of other things.

“We learned some lessons from St. Paul’s,” said a Liberal strategist. “We figured out that trying to sell the tax by itself won’t work so we are making it just one piece of a $15 billion reform that is all about tax fairness.”

The Liberals are also encouraged because neither Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak nor NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who oppose the HST, has pledged to repeal it.

“We won’t scrap it. I guess my question to you and Mr. Hudak is will you?” chortled Finance Minister Dwight Duncan last week to Tory revenue critic Lisa MacLeod in the House.

“It is the right policy for the times. It is the policy that (former PC premier) Mike Harris has even endorsed … (federal Finance Minister) Jim Flaherty, a lot of really prominent Conservatives,” said Duncan.

Even Horwath, who has found traction with the message that the tax change helps Bay Street on the backs of Main Street by transferring the burden from business to consumers, has been unwilling to pledge to eliminate the HST if she takes power in 2011.

Pouncing upon this weakness in the opposition’s argument against the tax, Wilkinson has gone on the attack, accusing the Tories and New Democrats of “trying to spin a myth.” [Ed. Note: Meanwhile, the Liberals are spinning this massive change as just a small part of a larger 'tax fairness' bill. Is a tax increase 'fair' or is it doublespeak?]

“They are trying to create the impression that our tax reform comes down to nothing more than increased sales tax for many items,” the minister said. “That’s a myth. The fact is we are proposing to permanently cut income taxes for people and all businesses, both large and small, in 2010,” he said, adding the entire package of cuts and rebate cheques is worth $15 billion over three years.

The Liberals also welcomed a TD Economics report Friday that predicted prices could drop by 0.8 per cent to 0.9 per cent, though it found the tax change will cost Ontario households up to $3 billion more a year.

Source | See also under Taxation: Thousands rally against coming HST tax in BC | Sarkozy launches carbon tax to help ’save the human race’ | Quebec’s photo radar starts ticketing | Flaherty offers taxpayer-funded bribe to adopt HST tax, holdout provinces demur | BC, like Ontario, moves to harmonize taxes | Vancouver kicks off quest for ways to fund transportation system | Cost Of US Bailout Hits A Whopping $24 Trillion Dollars | Ontario to subsidize electric cars as auto-sector boost | G8 Summit: Rich nations to pay green tab | G8 leaders see no early end to stimulus | Climate Cops To Fine “Wasteful” Homeowners & Businesses | Goldman Sachs: The Great American Bubble Machine | US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive | Ontario Liberals pressing to hide new ‘harmonized’ tax in prices | Ontario unveils cap-and-trade legislation | Economic stabilization may rely on carbon economy, economist says | ‘Smart meters’ set to boost prices, track your power consumption by time of day in Toronto | GM deal likely involves bigger sacrifices: McGuinty | With interest rates at zero, Fed looks at going negative | Revenue Canada destroys man’s life, refuses to pay for million-dollar mistake | NRTEE Carbon Market Panel is ‘Round Table on Socialist Planning’ | Climate panel presses for federal cap-and-trade system | Which Banks Will Rule? | Carbon tax resurfaces in Liberal policy proposal | Canada Revenue Agency employees arrested in corruption probe | Obama, Gore, tied to Chicago carbon exchange | Ontario to merge GST, PST in ‘harmonized’ tax hike | Ottawa considering aid for private broadcasters | Barclays bank gags Guardian newspaper over tax avoidance leaks | UK Central Bank begins using ‘new’ money | NY Times: Mileage Tax Would ‘Track Where Motorists Have Been’ | Stimulus needed now, Bank of Canada says | Terence Corcoran: Ontario’s green energy plan sneaks in feed-in taxes | Obama outlines ‘hard choices’ budget | Cost of Afghan mission jumps to $11.3-billion | GM wants twice as much taxpayer’s money | Behemoth budget bill to be rammed through parliament unread | Obama signs stimulus bill | Obama takes heat for third cabinet appointee that hasn’t paid taxes | Tories seek extra $331-million for Afghan mission | Fed infrastructure money requires provincial spending | All maxed out? Budget measures would improve credit access | UK Slips New Garbage Bin Taxes into Climate Bill | UK: ‘Spy-in-sky’ trials get the go-ahead despite Government promise to scrap road-pricing plan | Oregon Governor Wants GPS-Tracked Vehicle Mileage Tax | GTA Transit plan needs taxation, ‘governance’ powers | Is road-tolls fix running out of gas? | Ontario raises minimum price for beer | Toronto council approves plastic bag charge, bottle ban | Maybe we should look at Zimbabwe before trying to print our way out of a money crisis | Deficits ‘essential,’ Harper says | Road tolls called ‘inevitable’ | Now the consumer crunch: falling credit limits, rising interest rates | Federal government stages another retreat on road tolls | Federal Road Toll Meeting Sponsorship Kept Quiet Until After Election | Toronto Mayor David Miller hails new taxes on water, trash | New credit cards may shift unauthorized-transaction liabilities to the holder | The Bush gang’s parting gift: a final, frantic looting of public wealth | Is an Internet tax coming? | Metrolinx considering road tolls after all | Bailout is “petty cash”, Inflation is the Federal Reserve’s real crime | Toronto Mayor delays garbage tax grab for twelve months | Garbage bin fee hike possible before new RFID bins even hit the kerb | Next Federal Reserve bank bailout round could cost taxpayers 1$ Trillion Dollars | Central banks continue inflating global economy | Central Banks Move to Transfer Wealth from Taxpayers to Banks | For Toronto, road tolls, fees ‘on the menu’ | B.C. carbon tax kicks in on Canada Day | Road tolls, a bitter pill that works | Microchip bin tax scheme to go ahead despite failures | Feds Stealing from UI fund, Layton says | Time has come to put ‘price on waste and pollution’: Dion | Toronto Residents Furious Over RFID Garbage Bins | Pay-As-You-Drive Car Insurance | Is it time for toll roads? | Metrolinx Proposes Satellite Vehicle Tracking for Road Tolls

This entry was posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 9:31 am and is filed under propaganda, taxation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.