“Resistance to the harmonized sales tax is growing… Not only here in British Columbia, but also in Nova Scotia and, slowly, in Ontario,” NDP leader Jack Layton told The Tyee on Friday.
“So far, Stephen Harper has largely avoided being tagged with this regressive tax increase,” Layton said. “Harper tries to say it’s just a provincial matter. That’s simply not true. And that will become clear when there’s actually a vote in the House of Commons on the harmonized tax.”
Layton, who was in New Westminster and Coquitlam campaigning with by-election candidate Fin Donnelly, vowed the NDP will vote against the “$1.8 billion in bribe money that Harper put on the table” to bring British Columbia into the nationwide harmonization program.
“We've been raising it in question period... and we're going to keep it up, because the HST is a regressive tax,” Layton said.
NDP Premier Darrell Dexter, who last June became the first New Democrat ever to lead Nova Scotia, was elected in part because he campaigned against the HST, according to Layton. Premier Dexter has already waived HST on home heating fuel, and is working on removing it from other targeted essentials.
“In B.C., there was an explicit denial by the premier in the [May] election. And then sure enough it happened. That created a visceral and immediate sense of betrayal,” Layton said. “And, let’s face it, people in British Columbia react faster and with more enthusiasm than we typically find in Ontario.”
Layton described his home province as a “sleeping giant” where public opinion is slower to react.
“The Ontario population is taking a little while to wake up to the fact that they’re about to be whacked with some pretty sharp tax increases, and that Stephen Harper is bribing the Ontario government with their tax dollars to make it happen,” he said.
“I can tell you that once our constituents come to understand it, we get far more response on this than we get on any other issue,” Layton said. “I think you’re going to find that as the implementation dates of the tax get closer, the pressure is going to rise.
(The Conservative and Liberal parties were invited to provide leadership comment in conjunction with the Nov. 9 by-elections. Neither national campaign returned The Tyee’s phone calls or e-mails.)
Layton said he enjoys campaigning with Donnelly.
“Fin has such a great name for a swimmer,” he joked. “And he swam such long distances… I tended to be more of a sprinter. In that sense we make a good combination.”
And Layton credited Donnelly for yesterday’s announcement that Harper has called for a judicial inquiry into the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run.
“Here’s a guy who, even before being elected an MP, has already achieved what most opposition MPs have great difficulty doing, namely forcing the government to act,” Layton said. “The inquiry is a response to an issue Fin has been working on for 15 years, since that first swim.”
Monte Paulsen reports for The Tyee.
Cough up Darrell and Jack
Monte reports that:
"NDP Premier Darrell Dexter, who last June became the first New Democrat ever to lead Nova Scotia, was elected in part because he campaigned against the HST, according to Layton. Premier Dexter has already waived HST on home heating fuel, and is working on removing it from other targeted essentials."
BIG DEAL.
Yes, there is a rebate.
"All energy sources purchased for home use (heating fuel, natural gas, propane, firewood, wood pellets, coal, kerosene, electricity, fire wood) receive a Nova Scotia energy rebate when delivered by a registered vendor to a home."
But:
"In Nova Scotia, the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) applies to taxable motive fuel."
It doesn't in BC.
"HST Exemptions:
Under the proposed HST, a number of products will be exempt from the seven per cent provincial portion of the BC HST:
Gasoline, ethanol, diesel and biodiesel when used in motor vehicles."
and, in BC there is a home heating rebate too.
"BC Residential Energy Rebate:
A provincially-administered point-of-sale rebate for residential energy will also ensure the HST will not increase
consumers’ costs for oil, electricity, natural gas or propane used to heat or power homes."
Much less taxes in BC than Nova Scotia.
Oh, well ok Rman...
That makes the HST all right then. As long as we're not paying as much as Nova Scotia. Whew! Glad we cleared that up. We love paying taxes that don't go towards new services and just benefit huge business.
what a weirdo Layton can be
vote for billion dollar EI bribe (mine is running out in three weeks and then? cuz only union workers can possibly qualify) but votes against this bribe.
You know a little consistency would go a long way.
I'm not a supporter of the HST btw - just a little tired of this nonsense.
Boy you guys are desperate.
R/man you really must get another life. On other columns on the tyee your friends Harper and Campbell come across as a bunch of greedy dictators and you don't say a word. I guess it is really hard to defend your boys but here on an obscure article about Layton and the HST money gouge you try to attack Layton for listening to what the folks are telling him. Pretty pathetic guys.
As for MichaelT, if Harper had given Layton a better EI package in the budget to vote for, do you really think Layton would have turned that down. As though he was given a choice with too man like R/man telling Harper and Campbell that they are doing such a good job. The good part is that the howling voices in the dark are getting fewer in number outside the Chamber of Commerce.
Too much comedy
Skywalker. It is funny how you can blend a comment on dictators into an article on elections. That's a wee bit oxymornish. As for Jack and the HST play. Well, good luck with that. Maybe he can get Darell Dexter to lop the HST off of gasoline as Gordon Campbell has done. Cheers to Jack though for his support and continuing votes for Harper.
NDP - Don't Bribe BC But Bribe Quebec
Layton is out in BC telling us that they will oppose the $1.8 billion in HST 'bribe' money.
Yet Layton's second in command, Tom Mulcair, is advocating for the Cons to bribe Quebec with HST funds:
"Thomas Mulcair (NDP): Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives are busying themselves harmonizing sales tax increases in Ontario and British Columbia, Quebec is still waiting. Still waiting for the compensation it's owed after having harmonizeed its tax in the '90s. 6 billion here. Instead of his usual boasting, can the minister of national revenue for once in his life answer the following question: When will Quebec finally be compensated?"
All political parties are playing politics on this one. Say one thing in one part of the country and say another thing in another part of the country.
Is there anyone in politics who has ethics anymore?
Rman...is scared, so our the federal leaders!
Well Rman, I can sense the fear in your comment,Jack Layton is a politician,and.....
Slippery Jack Layton has found an issue to run on.
Harper wants oh so bad to get a majority,Iggy is desperate to turn the tide and bring voters back into the Liberal tent,both with fail and the federal NDP will be the big winners unless....
Unless the Tories or Grits denounce the HST as a populous stance,there will be a federal race,a race to be the first to reject the HST....
Gordon Campbell`s worst nightmare,here`s the deal my friends,Stephen Harper can win his majority if he announces that the HST is officially dead,Iggy can earn a big chunk back if his party rejects the HST,which federal party will be first to take the winning populous stance and denounce the HST?
This is going to be very interesting,and for those of you not paying attention, if the HST goes through the federal government IS GOING TO HAVE TO PAY QUEBEC 2.6 $ billion dollars in transition money!
You can read about Quebec and the HST here
http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/10/quebec-wants-26-billion-for.html
Gordon Campbell`s nightmare is now going to come true, the HST will be a federal issue,the big winner will be the federal party who rejects the HST first!
Will Jack Layton`s party (the NDP) take over as Canada`s official opposition on a anti HST platform ?
Will Michael Ignatief bring the masses back into the Liberal tent by denouncing the HST?
Will Stephen Harper stretch and reach the brass ring (A Majority) by denouncing the HST?
Tune in next week my friends for another episode of......
"HST withers and dies"
Cheers-Eyes Wide Open
one more question salty dog,
when will the likes of r/man learn to dislike the vile taste of corruption spoon fed to him by his beloved masters?
CRH.....Great question....
Great question,simple answer......
Rman will never change,he likes the status quo....
And Rman has been licking the slime off the underside of slugs for many many years!Acquired taste eh Rman?
Cheers
R/man
Dictators? Did I say something about dictators? Oh you mean Harper and Campbell. Do you? Nice of you to concede finally that that is what they are.
NDP leader Jack Layton told The Tyee
“Resistance to the harmonized sales tax is growing… Not only here in British Columbia, but also in Nova Scotia and ..."
Nova Scotia election night
"With 232 of 245 polls reporting, Armstrong had 45.6 per cent of the vote. His nearest rival, NDP candidate Mark Austin, had 26.1 per cent, followed by Liberal Jim Burrows at 21.2 per cent."
Not growing fast enough I guess Jack.
Interesting percentages
Perhaps the informed observer will recall that Bill Casey got 69% of the popular vote running as an 'independent'.
Fun with numbers
Perhaps the professor will note that the NDP candidate in Nova Scotia will have to increase his vote by a mere 80% if he hopes to win the riding.
A shocking cold-shower to the candidate who was eagerly chomping since the recent win by NDPer Dexter and a daunting task even in a province with a new and improved NDP government in the hallowed halls of Halifax.
Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley
Has been represented by whom?
In 2004, Casey defeated Liberal Dianne Brushett for the second time to win a third term in Cumberland-Colchester.
Cumberland elected Conservative Charles Tupper, one of the Fathers of Confederation, from 1867 to 1887. After that, Tories and Liberals were elected. PC Bob Coates won five terms in Cumberland beginning in 1957 and was elected from 1968 to 1984 in Cumberland-Colchester. He was appointed minister of defence after the 1984 election.
He resigned from cabinet in 1985 after a controversy over a visit to a bar in Germany. In 1988, Casey defeated Liberal Dennis James under the Progressive Conservative banner.
* 1957-88 inclusive - PC
* 1993 - LIB
* 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006 - PC, CON (MP ejected from Conservative caucus in June 2007 and sat as an Independent)
And now the NDP places what?
Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley
The NDP places a distant second.
Anyone paying attention will have noticed that the Liberal Party is undergoing an extended period of renewal and leadership that just has not clicked with the populace, except of course in central Toronto. This party is still a substantial organization in Canada and if they are able to select a leader that resonates with the public they will become a strong force again. Then the NDP will almost certainly slide back down to their traditional slot, number three.
Any alternative would be quite amusing. The NDP will still have to get someone elected in Alberta and cling on to that single seat they have in the 75 seat province of Québec.