Ontarians largely opposed to HST: poll

Jordana Huber
Ottawa Citizen

olling conducted in the spring by the Ontario government found nearly 70 per cent of respondents were opposed to the province’s tax harmonization plan.

The post-budget poll of 200 people was conducted for the Ministry of Finance at the end of March. It shows 68 per cent were opposed to a single sales tax that would apply to goods and services previously exempt from the provincial sales tax. The survey was obtained by the NDP under the Freedom of Information Act.

The new tax is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2010.

Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak said the poll reflects what he has been hearing from Ontarians across the province.

“It’s an unaffordable tax increase on the backs of middle class families and seniors.”

Premier Dalton McGuinty said the government doesn’t govern by polls and the most important way to strengthen the economy is to move ahead with a harmonized sales tax.

“We are not moving ahead with the HST because of the ground swell of support for it. We’re doing it because it’s going to put Ontario at the forefront in North America,” McGuinty said.

The new HST, which blends the eight per cent provincial sales tax with the five per cent GST, will raise the cost of a range of items, including utility bills, hair cuts and newspaper subscriptions.

On Wednesday, a group of business leaders announced the formation of the Smart Tax Alliance to promote the “positive benefits of sales tax harmonization.”

“The tax rate on business investment in Ontario has put us at a disadvantage next to our peer jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada, and it must urgently be addressed,” said Len Crispino, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce in a statement.

“If we are expected to be a magnet for investment and innovation in this province, we must move ahead with the tax reforms, most importantly, sales tax harmonization.”

The poll has a margin of error of 6.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.