OTTAWA — The federal Liberal party played coy Friday about whether it will help the Harper government pass controversial legislation to allow harmonization of the federal GST and provincial sales taxes in Ontario and British Columbia.
“I’ll decide in my own time,” Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told reporters. “I haven’t seen the legislation. I’ve got to consult with the caucus.
Are you in support of the new Harmonized Sales Tax?
“A responsible leader looks at it, talks to his people and we make a decision next week.”
The Conservatives plan to introduce the legislation as early as Tuesday.
With the Bloc Quebecois leaning toward supporting it and the NDP opposed, the choice the Liberals make might not matter. The Tories need the support of only one other party to push through amendments to the Excise Tax Act to permit the blended tax, known as the HST.
But the issue of the harmonized sales tax is still awkward for Ignatieff, who has scoffed at the measure as the “Harper Sales Tax” but who has also said that, if he became prime minister, he wouldn’t repeal it.
Two Liberal provincial premiers — Dalton McGuinty in Ontario and Gordon Campbell in B.C. — want the federal legislation passed because it will permit their provinces to merge the two taxes and collect extra revenue.
However, the HST leaves Ignatieff in “a very difficult position,” said political scientist Kathy Brock of Queen’s University. He knows the provinces need the revenue from the HST, but he also knows he could turn off voters by backing it.
“It could affect his ability to build support in Ontario and British Columbia,” Brock said.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters in Toronto he hopes for opposition-party support.
“I’m looking forward to parliamentarians supporting the right of the provinces to make their own choice,” he said.
“I’m quite hopeful that this will be viewed as federation building in Canada, and that we’ll see minority Parliament work.”
If the bill doesn’t pass, the Conservatives say they won’t re-introduce it, even if re-elected.
The HST blends provincial sales taxes and the federal GST. Starting next summer in Ontario, it would mean a tax of 13% on many items that were previously only taxed the federal rate of 5%.
Premier Dalton McGuinty said he’s counting on federal parliamentarians to understand that Ontario needs the HST to recover from the recession.
“I have confidence that they will do what is important and what is right,” McGuinty said.
christina.spencer@sunmedia.ca
