MACLEOD RESPONDS TO MINISTER ON HST PDF Print E-mail
Friday, 11 December 2009 14:59

Ontario Hansard - 16-November2009


Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I want the Minister of Finance to look at this public gallery behind me and look at the public face of taxation. Those are the people who are going to suffer from your $3-billion tax grab.

Indeed, the taxpayers in this province should be alarmed that the Liberals are attempting to ram through the single largest sales tax increase in Ontario's history, using a dirty and underhanded procedural trick.

On behalf of Tim Hudak and the PC caucus, I stand here in opposition to this bill. This is clearly a desperation tactic from a government that has already had to cave in and provide special exemptions on the HST. Now they are panicking, and further, trying to cut off public debate.

In the Progressive Conservative caucus, we feel that this is an abuse of power. It is the job of the official opposition, under the leadership of PC leader Tim Hudak, to protect the public interest and public trust in the face of such undemocratic moves. We're already consulting with several leading parliamentary experts on the tactics that are available to us to prevent the Liberals from succeeding in shutting us down.

Interjections.


Ms. Lisa MacLeod: They're trying to shout me out as I speak. We will use every available tool at our disposal to defend the Ontario families behind us and the Ontario families in front of us and the families to the right-

Interruption.


The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): We welcome all guests. As much as you may wish to participate in the-

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Stop the clock.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): No, I'm not stopping the clock.

As much as you may want to participate, you're not allowed to participate, and I would ask that you respect that.

Member?


Ms. Lisa MacLeod: On their behalf, we're calling for public consultation in every community, from Ottawa to Niagara to Windsor to Hamilton to North Bay to Thunder Bay-right across this province-because in a few short years, this Liberal government has brought us from first to worst in economic growth. They have grown our deficit by $25 billion. We are now accepting welfare payments from the federal government because of their mismanagement, and now they want to raise taxes on the backs of these hard-working people. They want to do that; they look at them as their own personal ATM machine. This is unacceptable. That means every condo owner, every soccer mom, every hockey dad-every single Ontarian, on July 1, 2010, is going to have to pay 8% more on home heating, Internet access fees, plumber and electrical fees and cellphones-and that's all before they leave their house in the morning, because when they step outside, there's 8% more on snow removal, 8% more on maintenance fees, 8% more on gas in their car.

Interjections.


Ms. Lisa MacLeod: He can continue to try and shut me down, but he will not shut this province down-

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): I ask a number of ministers to please come to order.

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Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Now it's the portion of my speech where I get to tell them it's more than just a tax grab because once we sign this agreement, Ontario will relinquish its constitutional tax power. As part of the HST, the McGuinty government will relinquish a significant portion of our sales tax powers to the federal government. That means this Legislature will no longer have direct control over what is and what is not subject to direct taxation power, nor will we be able to change taxation in our province.

Secondly, Ontario's support of the HST means the tax can be hidden at point of purchase. This is an important point. When the HST was introduced in 1997 by their good friend Jean Chrétien, his government allowed that once 51% of Canada's population had agreed to the HST-and that means Ontario and British Columbia-tax-included pricing could be made possible by the federal government. That means once the Liberals in BC and Ontario agree to the HST, our sales tax may not be transparent much longer.

Despite the Liberals' rhetoric-this is my third point-that the value-added taxes are the norm in 130 countries in the provincial level, that's not the case. Even though they continually use the line, "More than 130 countries are doing this," the fact is only Brazil, a developing nation, has a value-added tax at the national and subnational level.

Finally, once implemented-this is the most important point-it is impossible to repeal. And they know that. They've locked us in for five years. We're not allowed to reduce it until two years-and you know it, and you have got to be held responsible and accountable to the people of this province. Hold the public hearings and hold them across the province.

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