Area Tories dispute Layton's HST claims

SooToday.com has received the following letter from an area Conservative candidate responding to issues raised by NDP Leader Jack Layton during his recent swing through Northern Ontario.

************************* Over the past few weeks, Jack Layton has been touring Northern Ontario, leaving in his wake a trail of mistruths and half-truths.

I cannot help but take issue with some of the NDP claims concerning the record of the Conservative government.

But, in this letter, I particularly take exception to Layton’s insistence that the introduction of HST in Ontario is a Harper tax increase.

In 2009, the Ontario government made the decision to harmonize the GST and PST to create the HST.

It was the choice of the McGuinty Liberal government to begin taxing some items that were not previously taxable under the PST.

Tax reduction has always been the goal of the Conservative federal government.

Stephen Harper’s government lowered taxes on home heating bills twice through our cuts to the GST since forming a government.

The NDP voted against those tax breaks for everyday Canadians both times.

Unlike the NDP, we Conservatives believe in lower taxes and leaving more money in the pockets of hard-working Canadians.

‪And unlike the NDP, we have the record to prove it.

Since coming to office in 2006, Stephen Harper has cut over 100 taxes - reducing taxes in every way government collects them - and have lowered the tax bill for the average family by nearly $3,000.

The NDP has voted against and opposed every tax cut the Conservative government introduced, including cutting the GST to five per cent from seven per cent on every purchase Canadians make, including home heating.

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives know that the economic recovery is still fragile.

The economy remains the government’s top priority, and it is focused on creating jobs and economic growth.

Because of Conservative policies, Canada now has an overall tax rate on new business investment that is substantially lower than that in any other G7 country.

And that is why the Conservatives will continue to keep taxes low for all Canadians, including job creating businesses.

Yours sincerely,

- Ray Sturgeon, Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing federal Conservative Candidate, Thessalon, Ontario

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