Honk if you oppose the HST

Some enterprising MPP's (or maybe Jack Layton) who oppose the HST should stand on either side of Queens Park Blvd with signs that read “Honk if you oppose the HST”.......when the Legislature is in session."

It would be time better spent than sitting in the Legislature itself. Take the debate outside, where people can voice their immense displeasure.

Hopefully these misguided Liberals inside the Legislature will hear the noise of protest from passing voters and this cacophony will restore some democracy and reality into the tax and grab policies of the McGuinty/Harper coalition governments who are determined to make Ontario the last place in Canada to retire and/or raise a family.....heat your home....save money....feed your family.... invest in mutual funds.....hire a contractor....etc. etc. etc.

Harper’s much maligned “Tax on everything” is about to become a reality. Just took a few key Liberals to fall for it.

Protest over HST

December 03, 2009

Denise Balkissoon

First Nations protesters angry over the proposed harmonized sales tax moved through the downtown core Thursday afternoon, stopping to shut down busy intersections as they looped down from Queen's Park and back again.

Native bands from across the province came to Toronto to protest the tax that was approved by the House of Commons for Ontario and British Columbia earlier in the day.

"We have an inherent right not to pay it," said Toronto's Kevin Copegog, of the Beausoleil First Nations, waving a red Mohawk flag.

"We're allies of the Queen, not subjects."

The gathering began at Queen's Park at 2 p.m. Then, the ululating Weengushk singers and traditional drummers spontaneously led the group south down University Avenue.

For almost three hours, the estimated 300 protestors made their way through the downtown core, stopping at major intersections. They went east along Dundas, pausing again at Dundas Square. Just after 4 p.m. they were outside Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, at Bay and College, and then came back north.

"Aboriginals should be a rich people," said Leah Rogers, 29, of Kettlepoint First Nations. She made the four hour drive from her reserve at the south end of Lake Huron to attend the protest. "This is all our land."

Currently, Ontario natives do not pay the PST. To be exempt from the GST, status "Indians" must get purchased goods delivered to their reserve by the vendor.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath said Ontario aboriginals already struggling with poverty will be hit hard by the proposed tax. "The eight per cent increase that this is going to create for them is going to be devastating, it really is," said Horwath.

She said Ontario aboriginal chiefs who were meeting in Toronto over the past week started the protest, upset that Dalton McGuinty's government did not consult with them before pushing the new sales tax.

"A lot of us are living below the poverty line," said Stacy Day, 30, from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation reserve, near Sarnia. "It's supposed to be our right not to pay the tax."

The blended tax, negotiated between the Harper government and provincial Liberal governments in B.C. and Ontario, will permit the provinces to start collecting a combined GST and PST next July 1. In Ontario, the HST will blend the 8 per cent provincial sales tax and the 5 per cent federal GST. It will increase the costs of many items that had been previously subject only to the GST.

Chippewa, Ojibwe and Iroquois flags and signs were all seen at Thursday's protest, as well as the purple Hiawatha belt flag that represents all six First Nations. Though the protestors slowed traffic around the evening rush hour, neither motorists or police seemed too distressed.

Just after 5 p.m., the group was back at Queen's Park, boarding busses and ready to head home.

Most B.C. residents oppose HST

Foodservices poll finds 64% want restaurant meals exempt from tax

BY ANDREW A. DUFFY, TIMES COLONIST; WITH FILES FROM CANWEST NEWS SERVICEDECEMBER 4, 2009 1:04 AM


On the day the House of Commons voted to approve a ways-and-means motion clearing the way for a harmonized sales tax in B.C. and Ontario, the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association released a poll showing the majority of British Columbians oppose the new tax.

According to the poll of 604 B.C. residents, 75 per cent oppose the harmonization of the seven per cent provincial sales tax with the five per cent GST, while 63 per cent strongly oppose it. The poll also showed 64 per cent of consumers favour exempting food in restaurants from a new meal tax.

The poll, conducted by Innovative Research, is considered accurate with a margin of error of plus or minus four per cent 19 times out of 20.

According to Ian Tostenson, president of the BCRFA, the survey results underscore what the industry has been saying since the provincial government announced the tax earlier this year. It is to be implemented July 1, 2010.

"It showed us that somewhere in the vicinity of 75 per cent of people would eat out less in restaurants if the HST goes ahead," he said. "As an industry, we have made sincere efforts over the last four months to get some creative discussion going with government about [how to mitigate the impact] and I'm not sure much has really happened -- there's frustration in the industry, it's frustrated and scared."

The restaurant industry is bracing for what it says will be a massive blow when the HST is introduced, because consumers now are largely exempted from paying PST for dinner.

The BCRFA estimates the seven per cent increase in tax will amount to a $750-million hit to B.C. restaurateurs, while the average consumer could feel the pinch to the tune of $1,800 a year.

While Tostenson noted there has been little movement from the government to offset the expected pain, he was encouraged by reports Premier Gordon Campbell said his government will work with the industry.

"With the release of the poll, we have caught the attention of government and we have to give them a fair chance to come back to us and create a partnership," he said. "It's not in anyone's best interest to be at odds with each other here, we need some certainty in the situation and get on with things."

While the HST is expected to hit the restaurant, tourism and homebuilding sectors hard, it is expected to help manufacturing businesses like forestry and mining with billions in cost savings.

The B.C. government has consistently defended the tax, saying it will improve the overall economy, increase competitiveness and ultimately provide the foundation for jobs.

It appears to be a virtual certainty to be implemented after the ways-and-means motion has passed in Ottawa. That will allow the government to introduce legislation as early as today to enable Ontario and B.C. to harmonize the taxes.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff insisted yesterday that his caucus is united behind his decision to support the HST even though more than one-third of his caucus didn't show up for the vote that saw MPs give their first nod of approval.

The motion passed 192 to 32. However, 27 of the 77 Liberal MPs did not show up. The absentees included B.C. MPs Hedy Fry, Keith Martin and Joyce Murray.

Ignatieff said subsequent votes would show the caucus remains united.

Despite disparaging the measure in the past as a "Harper tax," Ignatieff said the Liberals, who lobbied for the provinces to harmonize under former prime minister Jean Chrétien, would maintain their support for the tax.

"Our party for 15 years has supported sales tax harmonization. This is a request from the provinces, because they believe it'll improve the competitiveness of their economy and create jobs," Ignatieff said this week.

aduffy@tc.canwest.com