We stand behind the people of NWO

If there were any question about which federal party stands behind the people of Northwestern Ontario, then Michael Ignatieff removed all doubt this week when he declared that his federal Liberals would honour the Flaherty-McGuinty HST tax grab if he were to become Prime Minister. With that declaration the New Democratic Party now stands alone as the only federal party which understands that families in our region can’t afford an 8 percent sales tax increase, and which remains steadfastly committed to stopping the HST from being implemented next July.
Recently, I sent a piece of mail to each household in the riding to explain that the sales tax on many items (gas, hydro, firewood, coffee, snow plowing, etc, etc) was going to increase by 8 percent next year with the introduction of a harmonized sales tax (HST). Most of the responses that I received expressed anger, but not surprise, that the McGuinty Liberals would introduce such a massive tax increase, but many were also shocked to learn that he did so at the urging of the federal Conservative government and only because the federal Finance Minister committed to giving them $4.3 billion of our federal tax dollars if they did so. Make no mistake, this $4.3 billion federal payment is little more than a bribe by the federal Conservative government to increase our provincial tax burden, and uses our own tax dollars to do so. That sickens me.
On this issue Michael Ignatieff proved once again that he and his party are out of touch with the needs of families in our region by proudly declaring this week that they will SUPPORT this massive tax hike and make no effort to stop it. Despite the fact that the McGuinty Liberals will not be implementing the tax until July 2010 and that doing so is contingent upon him getting his hands on that $4.3 billion federal bribe, Mr. Ignatieff said that he will do nothing to stop the implementation because Harper and McGuinty have already reached an agreement in principle on the matter. Responding to questions from various reporters this week, Mr. Ignatieff finally clarified his position on the issue by stating that; “it would be irresponsible to rip up an agreement that has been duly negotiated between a federal ... and a provincial government.” He made that statement knowing that the HST had not yet come into effect and that the federal payment could still be withdrawn in time to stop it from coming into effect. Mr. Ignatieff had a choice on this matter and he sided with Jim Flaherty and Dalton McGuinty and against Northwestern Ontario families.
If you think for some reason that I am overreacting to this proposed tax increase, then please consider the following; the HST tax increase being introduced at the urging of the federal Conservatives is FOUR TIMES the size of the GST reduction they implemented and which reduced that tax from 7 percent to 5 percent. With the Ontario unemployment rate projected to top out at nearly 11 percent next year and a fragile economic recovery supposedly getting underway is this really the right time to drive up the cost of living with a massive sales tax increase? Should we be spending $4.3 billion of our federal tax dollars to induce that provincial tax increase?
So where does that leave us? Well, the last federal party opposing this 8 percent sales tax increase is the New Democratic Party and we remain strongly committed to stopping this Conservative-Liberal tax grab from coming into effect. We oppose this tax increase for many reasons, but the fact that it unfairly raises taxes on essential items for families in Northwestern Ontario – gas, firewood, heating oil, hydro, internet, etc. – is just completely unacceptable given the economic hit we’ve already taken with the steep decline of the forestry sector, reduced tourism related activity, and the onset of the global financial crisis.
Enough is enough and Canada’s New Democrats are proudly committed to stopping the federal Conservative government from enabling the provincial Liberal government to punish our families further.
Please join us in our fight for fairness.
www.unfairtaxgrab.ca
www.johnrafferty.ndp.ca
In their own words on the HST...
“The tax burden will shift from businesses to consumers, who will now pay the harmonized tax on a broader array of goods and services than before.” -- Don Drummond, Chief Economist TD Bank (September 18, 2009)
http://www.financialpost.com/related/links/story.html?id=2010168
“This single tax is a result of the provincial and federal government working together.” -- Dwight Duncan, Provincial Finance Minister (March 25, 2009) http://www.canada.com/business/fp/Tories+pledge+offset+Ontario+reform+costs/1431615/story.html
“But the same proposal - in terms of transition funding - that we made with the province of Ontario followed by the province of British Columbia is available to those provinces as well. The same formula.” -- Jim Flaherty continuing his campaign to increase provincial sales taxes across Canada (August 2, 2009) http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/s/04082009/2/biz-finance-flaherty-says-cheque-mail-sask-man-p-e.html
“I’m the leader of the Opposition. I’ve got no position to clarify. It’s between those two governments. And when I become prime minister I’ll have other decisions to take.” -- Michael Ignatieff (September 18, 2009)
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090918/hst_study_090918/20090918?hub=Toronto
“This agreement was made between the Conservative government and his [McGuinty’s] government. I assured him the Liberal Party of Canada is a party of government. We don’t rip up agreements that have been duly negotiated by previous administrations.” -- Michael Ignatieff (September 22, 2009) http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/699487