Members of Parliament have a choice today: we could either support an unfair and regressive new tax in Ontario and British Columbia, or say no to it.

I will vote no. 

Both Ontario and BC have announced their intentions to combine their provincial sales tax with the Goods and Service Tax (GST). For the process to unfold, Members of Parliament have to endorse the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) and authorize the payment of $4.3 billion to Ontario and $1.6 billion to BC for the establishment of the new tax.

The fact is that the HST will place an unfair financial burden on low income earners, seniors and pensioners. How? The GST is applied to a greater range of products and services than provincial sales tax. By merging the two together, people in Ottawa and across Ontario would be paying 8% more taxes on essentials that have been exempted from provincial taxes to date.  That is 8% more on home heating, hydro and gas. Even haircuts and funerals would become 8% more expensive.

The HST is supposed to fill the revenue gap created by large corporate tax cuts. While the plan will give large corporations an estimated $6.9 billion dollars in tax relief, the HST will shift that burden onto the consumers. Moreover, this plan will hurt small businesses as their customers will have to pay more for their products.

But perhaps the most concerning are the numerous reports that the HST will actually result in heavy job losses across Ontario. Housing economist Frank Clayton has reported that the HST will result in a decrease in the demand for new houses and could result in 14,100 to 21,100 fewer jobs. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce reported that the HST will slow job growth by up to 40,000 jobs per year.

At a time when families in our region are hurting from an economic recession, the last thing governments should do is to whack them with a new tax. This is a time for government to make strategic investments in job creation, job training, housing and health – not stymie a fragile economic recovery.

The Harper government in Ottawa and the McGuinty government in Toronto know that the public does not support this new regressive tax initiative. That’s why Conservatives have announced that the vote this week will not be a confidence vote – practically wishing that the scheme will be defeated and forgotten by the time of the next election. 

As the sole New Democrat MP in our region, I seem to be alone in my stance against the HST. But Canadians’ pocketbooks are stretched to the limit as it is. Consumer confidence is down and now is the worst time to introduce such an unfair tax. I hope my colleagues in the region, regardless of their political affiliation, will join me in saying no to a poor tax.