Next election will be vote on HST, McGuinty says

Published On Tue Sep 14 2010

Robert Benzie Queens Park Bureau Chief

As British Columbians gear up for an HST referendum, Premier Dalton McGuinty says Ontario voters can voice their opinion on the new tax in next years provincial election. In the wake of B.C. Premier Gordon Campbells surprise announcement Monday that a harmonized sales tax plebiscite would be held Sept. 24, 2011, McGuinty was asked if a similar vote were possible here. Were going to have an election in October 2011 at that time people can pass judgment on us on all of our tax reforms, the premier said Monday. While McGuinty emphasized he does not want B.C. residents to kill the businessfriendly tax, he said if they did so it would be good for Ontario. Theres no doubt about it, it will give us a competitive advantage, he said, noting B.C. only embraced harmonization because Ontario was doing it and Campbell was worried his province would be left behind. That was an important motivator for them to move ahead with the HST, said McGuinty, hastily adding Im going to leave B.C. business up to the people of B.C. Both Ontario and B.C. blended their provincial sales taxes with the federal GST on July 1, but the change has been much more controversial out west. In part, thats because Campbell pushed forward with harmonization immediately after winning an election where he had pooh-poohed the idea. As well, B.C. residents are still adjusting to a new carbon tax on fuel introduced in 2008. But both opposition parties in Ontario will be closely watching the B.C. referendum, which will come 12 days before the Oct. 6, 2011 provincial election here.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Ontarios 13 per cent levy would still be a hot topic 13 months from now. It is part of the sense that people have that theyre drowning in an inability to make ends meet, said Horwath. When I go out across the province, people are still raising it. We know we had over 300,000 signatures on our online petition (opposing the HST) and its a factor in peoples everyday life, she said. Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak pointed out that Ontario could have had a referendum on the tax here if McGuintys Liberals hadnt amended old Tory legislation. Under the Taxpayer Protection Act, which Dalton McGuinty promised to uphold, a referendum would have been called on a new tax initiative like the HST tax grab. Dalton McGuinty scrapped it, said Hudak. Listen, Im confident families will have their chance to vote on election day between a PC party that will lower the tax burden for families and Dalton McGuinty thats going to keep hitting them with tax and fee increases, he said. Neither the Tories nor the New Democrats have pledged to scrap the HST, which was the brainchild of McGuinty and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.