When Stephane Dion and the federal Liberal party found it politically inconvenient to oppose the Conservatie government's 2008 GST cut, the New Brunswick Liberal Party thought they had discovered the next best thing in hiking the Harmonized Sales Tax by 1%.
The Harmonized Sales Tax is a harmonized combination of the General Goods and Services tax (imposed by the federal government) and the Provincial Sales tax (imposed by the provincial government). The HST also involves the governments of Novia Scotia and Newfoundland.
According to New Brunswick Finance Minister Victor Boudreau, premier Shawn Graham discussed the proposed HST hike with Nova Scotia premier Rodney McDonald and Newfoundland premier Danny Williams, and was forced to conclude that the hike was unfeasible."Government wasn't looking at putting one extra penny into its coffers," Boudreau insisted.
Of course, because it pertains to an agreement involving two other provincial governments, New Brunswick can't hike the tax unilaterally. If the other two provinces involved weren't willing to go with New Brunswick on this, then the plan is officially dead.
The ridiculousness of taking on the federal government over one of the most unpopular taxes in Canadian history aside, portraying the decision not to hike the HST as an "early christmas present", in particular, is nothing short of a logical fallacy, particularly considering that hiking the HST is the exact opposite of a Christmas present ("merry Christmas, I got you nothing...").
One would think Liberals would be smarter in places where they're actually governing.
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