HST bill to be tabled next week

OTTAWA — The federal government will introduce legislation as early as next week to implement a harmonized sales tax in Ontario and British Columbia.

And while the legislation may test the resolve of the Opposition Liberals to support the controversial tax, the minority Conservative government will likely see Bloc Quebecois MPs vote for the bill. The NDP have said they will vote against it and on Friday called on Liberals to do the same.

"Provincial taxation is a provincial responsibility and provinces should choose what suits them best," Conservative MP James Rajotte said in the House of Commons. "The previous federal Liberal government allowed three willing provinces, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, to harmonize new value-added taxes with the federal one. We believe that all provinces should have the right to make their own tax decisions."

The Ontario and B.C. governments have committed to harmonizing their provincial sales taxes with the federal goods-and-services taxes. The HST is expected to save businesses billions, but raise the cost of some consumer items, such as heating oil in Ontario and restaurant meals in B.C.

The federal government is providing $4.3 billion to Ontario and $1.6 billion to B.C. to implement the measure.

Despite the outlay of federal funds, the vote will not be a matter of confidence, said Conservative Ted Menzies, the parliamentary secretary to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

Because it is not a matter of confidence, the government will not fall should the House of Commons vote it down.

In Ottawa Friday, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty told reporters he was confident the legislation will pass.

Despite the fact McGuinty and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell are both Liberals, Ignatieff and other federal Liberals have taken shots at the plan, dubbing the HST the "Harper Sales Tax." In Ontario, the provincial Progressive Conservative party is campaigning against the HST, while their federal cousins are in favour of the new tax. Indeed, Flaherty has long been a passionate advocate for the blended tax, saying it will improve Ontario's competitiveness and yet, his wife, Christine Elliott, during her unsuccessful run for the leadership of the Ontario PC party campaigned hard against it.

The federal Liberals have not yet decided how they will vote on the issue.

"I'll decide in my own sweet time," Ignatieff told reporters in St. John's, N.L. noting that the controversial bill will be debated while Prime Minister Stephen Harper is out of the country visiting China and South Korea. "I haven't seen the legislation. I've got to consult with the caucus. So a responsible leader looks at it, talks to his people and we make a decision next week."

"We're still under advisement on the issue," Frank Valeriote, a Liberal MP from Guelph, Ont., said outside the House of Commons. "We've talked about about it all week. The HST is reported to be a good thing for Ontario — create jobs, put money back in the pocket of Ontario. The simple message is, yes, there might be a tax increase and there might be blowback so it has to be very carefully messaged."

In the meantime, the National Citizens Coalition, a political advocacy group that tends to support right-wing causes and which once employed Harper as its president, is calling on the Liberals to vote against the HST.