DUNCAN ADMITS TO HST POISON PILL

NEWS:

Today, McGuinty Liberal Finance Minister Dwight Duncan admitted what Dalton McGuinty would not. Duncan confessed that the McGuinty Government’s HST deal contains a $4.3 billion poison pill designed to handcuff future governments to Dalton McGuinty’s tax grab.

When Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak asked Duncan to explain the fine print of the HST agreement, Duncan admitted that, in fact, the deal does include a clause that forces any government that would want to repeal the tax before 2015, to pay a $4.3 billion fine.

The PC Party continues to call on the Liberal government to hold public consultations across the province on the HST, so that Ontario families, seniors and small businesses can save their say about the McGuinty tax grab.

QUOTES:

“You can in fact get out of the deal; you just have to give the $4.3 billion back to the federal government…”

- McGuinty Liberal Finance Minister Dwight Duncan (Hansard, November 25)

” You’re afraid to go out to get the public’s support for your HST tax grab and now we find out that if the government tries to get out of your bad deal we have to pay a fine of $4.3 billion….”

- Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak (Hansard, November 25)

QUICK FACTS:

To view the HST agreement, including the $4.3 billion poison pill, visit:

http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/publications/2009/citca.html (See Annex C: Transitional Assistance, Clauses 7 to 16)