OTTAWA, ON – December 10, 2009 - A final House of Commons vote on C-62, the Harper government’s HST Bill, resulted in the legislation being passed in record time late Wednesday. With the support of the Liberal caucus and the Bloc Québécois, the major tax Bill was rushed through the House only hours after it was introduced. Given the HST’s greater impacts on the North, Thunder Bay – Superior North MP Bruce Hyer was watching how Northern MPs voted on the tax.

“I am greatly disappointed to see that Greg Rickford from Kenora and Anthony Rota from Nipissing-Timiskaming voted for the HST. Their constituents overwhelmingly reject this tax grab, so why have these MPs voted to impose this tax on their own voters?  Where are their public consultations on this tax hike?” asked Hyer, a vocal opponent of the new tax. “This vote wasn’t a matter of confidence. If they had lobbied their caucus colleagues to oppose the tax instead of impose it, it could have been defeated in the House of Commons without an election.”

Earlier, Hyer asked Northern Ontario MPs for a commitment to stand up against the HST in the House of Commons. Hyer noted that a number of Liberal MPs from British Columbia were absent from the vote, despite being in the House earlier in the day.

Pauline Aunger, President of the Ontario Real Estate Association, stated “According to StatsCan, there were some 3,235,495 households in Ontario in 2006. Each month, the HST will add 8% to the cost of their electricity, their heating bill, their phone and cable bills, their lawn care and snow clearing bills as well as any maintenance and needed renovations. That totals billions of dollars province-wide.”

“With respect to new housing, the tax situation is even worse.” Aunger continued “It’s simply provincially-sponsored tax gouging.”

The federal HST Bill must become law in order for provinces to implement the tax. The Senate has the power to amend the Bill or defeat it, and is expected to deliberate on the Bill early in the new year.

“The torch for this Bill is now passed on to the Senate, where the Liberal majority can still defeat this tax hike. If there ever was need for sober second thought on the implications of a Bill, this is it.” said Hyer. “Senators must know that the HST’s way of shifting the tax burden from business to ordinary Ontarians would result in families paying much more in taxes every year.”