Ontario passes HST legislation

Ont. passes bill for 13 per cent HST starting July 1

Date: Wednesday Dec. 9, 2009 10:55 AM ET

The Ontario legislature passed the HST bill Wedneday in its third and final reading, by a vote of 56 to 29.

The legislation will be applied beginning July 1, 2010. It blends the province's eight per cent provincial sales tax with the five per cent goods and services tax.

Once the legislation is proclaimed, it becomes law. But it will do so amid howls of protest from the opposition parties, who are accusing the majority Liberal government of ramming the legislation through as quickly as possible, with little debate.

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan maintains the single tax will help create 600,000 jobs over the next decade. He said the HST will effectively lower costs for businesses, allowing them to lower prices and hire more staff.

The opposition Progressive Conservatives, however, call the HST a greedy tax grab. They say it will apply to many items exempt from the PST, including gasoline, home heating fuel and cable TV bills.


Bullshit. Pure. Bullshit.