As someone who disagrees with the HST I have been receiving notices from the Ontario NDP and the federal NDP about their disagreements with the HST. As is often the case, just because someone disagrees with something doesn't mean they disagree for a compatible reason.
Why I disagree with the HST
I consider the HST to be a tax shift from products onto services. Services were previously taxed with the GST, but not PST, and thus services only had the 5% GST applied. Now in Ontario services have to charge 13% (an increase of the 8% from Ontario).
This will mean that products will seem comparatively less expensive than services in those scenarios where one is competing with each other, such as repair/reuse compared to replacement of damaged goods. This will have a net negative impact on our environment.
This is in my mind the opposite of a Green Tax Shift type of initiative which would tend to be removing taxes from services and placing them onto products.
If the HST were to be removed entirely from services, then this would have the desired effect.
Why I disagree with the NDP
The NDP want to do the opposite, which is remove the HST from heating fuel. Not only do I believe that HST should remain on heating fuel, I am a strong believer in there being a carbon tax applied in a government revenue-neutral way. The policy should be for the price of heating fuel to go up, and the costs of labour to go down (No HST on services, lower income taxes for individuals, etc).
In other words, the policy that I think would be good for Canada and Canadians, and the tax policy promoted by the NDP, are the opposite. Disagreeing with the HST doesn't tell you anything.
I can tell you from someone who is conserving energy, I'm also feeling the pinch of this HST. The cost of living I found has gone up dramatically because of the HST.
ReplyDeleteOff side of the HST, I have connections to the Ontario leader of the NDP and Conservative Party as well. Andrea Horwath was my city councillor when I lived in Hamilton. That chick knows how to get it done! Looking forward to the provincial debates. Debates I guarantee will be interesting.
Tim Hudak of the Conservatives is connected with my wife. His father was the principle of her high school. She met him a few times in the 90's. Nice guy, but from people that are advocating for change, doesn't seem to listen very much to the people of Ontario. Has the same tone deafness as McGuinty apparently, and the Ontario PC party is strongly looking for a second “Common Sense Revolution”. Not much to choose from I’m afraid, but really looking forward to the debates. Horwath is feisty. She was known for that in Hamilton City Council. I have also spoken directly to McGuinty as well, nothing but politics behind this man.
I don’t support any political party provincially, at least until voting day but see this next provincial election as one of the most interesting in over a decade.