Federal Liberals support HST bill

On December 1st, 2009 Michael Ignatieff announced that the Liberal Party will support the Conservative HST Bill. "We will support the legislation in Parliament," Ignatieff told reporters after a special caucus meeting to discuss the blended tax. Many suspect that this move is an attempt to avoid potential voter backlash. The opposition was skittish over the Liberals bid to present the Bill as a federal Conservative idea due to this backlash. If the Liberals opposed the bill, it would put them at odds with their provincial cousins in both British Columbia and Ontario, as both provinces plan to support the bill. The harmonized sales tax will blend the 8 per cent provincial sales tax and the 5 per cent federal goods and services tax. As of July 1, Canadian citizens will pay a blended tax of 13 per cent on hundreds of items that had previously been subject to just the 5 per cent GST. That move will boost the price of items such as gasoline, heating fuel, magazines, taxi fares and dry cleaning. Despite the wording of the Conservative Government, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters in Toronto that this is not a Confidence Vote because "it's not a matter that affects the revenues of the government of Canada."