Strange gifts from Santa: HST in Ontario and BC and Afghan “detainee-abuse” testimony in Ottawa
Dec 9th, 2009 | By Counterweights Editors | Category: In Brief
About 300 First Nations people protested against the HST, on December 3, 2009 – the first day of limited public hearings on the issue at Queen's Park in Toronto. Rick Eglinton/Toronto Star.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2009. With Santa just starting to pack his sleigh up at the melting North Pole, only a few will be relieved to read “Ontario passes bill to create HST … Harmonized 13-per-cent tax to take effect July 1.” (Or “HST bill passes, 13% tax starts July 1 … BC expected to follow suit early in the new year.”) Meanwhile, back at the Alberta ranch into which Ottawa has now been almost turned, minority government or no: “Parliament approves HST for BC, Ontario … Bill breezes through House of Commons vote.”
Of course not everyone in BC and Ontario likes the new HST that is about to fall upon them (well on July 1, 2010 at any rate). And former BC premier William Vander Zalm has valiantly tried to enlist the support of (almost) everyone’s favourite Governor General Michaelle Jean on the side of the anti-HST angels. For further details on this sordid episode, see Randall White’s new post: “The Hated Sales Tax in Ontario and BC … and the Governor General in Ottawa (or what has Bill Vander Zalm been smoking)????” CLICK HERE, or consult the Canadian Provinces category to the right of this page.
Meanwhile again, what are we to make of such altogether unrelated headlines as: “Natynczyk makes major reversal on detainee story” ; “Harper government hit with political bombshell over Afghan detainees” ; “Canada never ignored detainee abuse, violated torture conventions: Government” ; and “Protest grows against Tories’ attack on Colvin … More than 35 top diplomats add names to list as MacKay faces mounting pressure in detainee-abuse case.”
The really big question this Christmas in Canada, we’re guessing, is whether as many Canadians, inside and outside Ontario and BC, are as angry about some potential federal government cover-up over “detainee-abuse” in Afghanistan, as about the HST aka “Hated Sales Tax” in Ontario and BC? And if we were really certain about the answer to this question, we’d probably run for the federal parliament in the next election too. Or at least one of us would. And he – or she – probably couldn’t do too much worse than the honourable members who are not governing Canada (or at least not as if it mattered) in Ottawa now!
No one believes that Ontario will emerge from this recession the same as it went in. We need to become more competitive.
A report by TD Bank estimates the HST will reduce cost of doing business in Ontario by roughly $5.3 billion and that the majority of these savings will be passed on to customers within the first year. In fact, the majority of items you purchase – 80 percent – will see no tax change at all.
A recent report by economist Jack Mintz confirms that Ontario needs to reform its tax system to create jobs and put Ontario back on its feet. It says, as a result of the HST, within 10 years Ontario would see:
o An estimated 591,000 additional new jobs
o Increased capital investment of $47 billion
o Increased overall annual worker incomes of up to 8.8 per cent, or $29.4billion
We have a choice: we can refuse to fix what’s broken, resign ourselves to the idea that Ontario will be less competitive or we can move forward and get the jobs Ontario needs.
Please visit: http://sites.google.com/site/thetruthaboutthehst/