New Democrats blast Conservatives over HST

NEWS RELEASE

TONY MARTIN, MP

**************************** New Democrats blast Conservatives over HST, tactics

New Democrats use entire Question Period to attack Conservatives over controversial tax increase and ‘undemocratic’ tactics

OTTAWA - While Garden River citizens close local highways today to protest the HST, New Democrats rose one after another in the House of Commons Wednesday opposing the controversial tax increase backed by the Harper Conservative government and Liberals.

New Democrats are incensed over government plans to enable the introduction of the HST in Ontario and British Columbia, and to circumvent regular parliamentary and pursue passage of the bill in just two days.

New Democrat questions in the House today on the HST dealt with the consistency of New Democrat opposition historically to regressive consumption taxes like the GST and HST, the end of the point-of-sale exemption for First Nations under the HST, the eight percent rise in gas prices after the new tax takes effect, and the undemocratic stifling of debate at the provincial and federal levels about the merits and drawbacks of the harmonization of sales taxes.

"Two weeks ago we learned that the Conservative government will kill the point of sale exemption for first nations," said Carol Hughes (Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasting). "Therefore when it comes to introducing the HST some people get the carrot and some get the stick. The province of Ontario is getting a $4 billion carrot and first nations in Ontario are getting the short end of the stick, despite their treaty right to tax exemption. Why is the government abandoning long established treaty rights just to make a cash grab from some of Canada's poorest and most vulnerable?"

New Democrat John Rafferty (Thunder Bay - Rainy River) rose to question why the federal Conservative government and the Opposition Liberals would endorse and expedite the HST bill while ‘whipping’ their entire caucus when the new tax will raise the price of gas eight percent in Northern Ontario communities which already have some of the highest gas prices in Canada.

New Democrat leader Jack Layton said "the Conservatives may try to ram through the HST with the help of the Liberals, but the NDP is going to fight them each and every step of the way. The NDP opposed the GST when it was brought forward years ago. The Conservatives are proposing to add $30 billion of taxation to families in the next 10 years. We fought it in the 1990s and we are going to fight the Conservative new tax this time around as well."

In Edmonton with MPs from all parties studying a national poverty plan, Sault MP Tony Martin said he met with and supported the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians, including Batchewana Chief Dean Sayers, in their campaign against the HST because of the lack of consultation and violation of treaty rights.

"The HST is bad for First Nations, for investors further taxed on investments, for average folk who will pay more for most goods and services."   ****************************