The
nominated Green Party of Canada candidate for Ottawa West-Nepean believes the
current uproar over the implementation of the HST in Ontario was avoidable.
Mark
MacKenzie says federal and provincial governments proceeded with, “virtually no
public consultation whatsoever. One sure way to inflame people’s sensibilities
is to implement a major tax scheme without involving them in an open dialogue.
This strikes at the very heart of what democratic government means in the 21st
century.”
Like
its predecessor the GST, the HST is a regressive tax in that it
disproportionately affects those with low incomes.
“If
we are serious about creating the circumstances by which people can reach their
potential we have to move away from this type of across the board taxation,”
says MacKenzie.
Another
segment of society that will be negatively impacted by the implementation of
the HST is small business (defined as businesses having less than 100 employees).
As a successful small business owner himself, MacKenzie says this taxation
approach will act as a brake on the innovative qualities of these
community-based entities.
“This
is a detrimental tax to small business because it places levies on items that were
not taxed under the PST (Provincial Sales Tax). This will mean the very people
who operate sustainable businesses will be hit with burdens relating to
affordability of supplies and services that were previously absent from the
equation,” says MacKenzie.