Ice the HST: Hudak

Nathan Taylor
Orillia Packet And Times

A harmonized sales tax (HST) would sideline the recreational sports community, says the leader of the provincial opposition.

In front of Brian Orser Arena yesterday afternoon, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak warned the HST — or the Dalton sales tax, as his party has dubbed it — would “hurt families and children who play minor sports here in Orillia and across Ontario.”

The government’s plan to combine the provincial sales tax with the goods and services tax would result in pumped-up prices for a number of purchases, including gasoline, houses, Internet and a cup of coffee, Hudak warned.

“But this tax on playing hockey is bordering on un-Canadian,” he said.

Hudak was in town with Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop to meet with sports groups from Orillia, Coldwater and Oro- Medonte Township to discuss the HST’s effect on the sector.

Rental fees for venues like ball diamonds, soccer fields and hockey rinks would jump by 8% under the new tax, Dunlop said.

“It’s probably the largest tax increase we’ve ever seen in the history of the province, next to the… health premium,” he said.

If the government goes ahead with the HST, it will “hit everyone everywhere in the province” next July, Hudak said.

But he’s not prepared to allow that possibility to become reality: “We’re going to keep up the pressure.”

For elected Liberals, it hasn’t been easy to sell the idea to constituents, Dunlop said. But garnering public opposition to the HST has also been tough. Many people, Dunlop said, are unaware of it, or at least how it will impact them.

But the details are starting to come out now, and if people think they’re going to be paying more, “that starts to get people mad,” Dunlop said.

“People are starting to say to (Premier) Dalton McGuinty, ‘Enough is enough. Taxes are too high,’” Hudak added.

Hudak said McGuinty previously indicated he was against the HST and said during the 2003 election campaign he wouldn’t raise taxes.

“Who knows what other tricks he has up his sleeve between now and 2012,” Hudak said.

Hudak wouldn’t say whether a government under his leadership would repeal the HST, should it be implemented. The current plan, though, is obvious, Dunlop said: “Our objective is to kill it.”

“We don’t know how long it would take to repeal it,” he said, adding the party doesn’t know the details of the province’s deal with the federal government.

The Tories expect to see legislation introduced within a couple of months.

While in the area, Dunlop and Hudak also met at Hawk Ridge Golf and Country Club with those who operate businesses in the tourism sector.

Dunlop said he’s heard more concerns from that sector than recreational sports.