Press Release |
KLEES CALLS ON OTTAWA TO ALLOW ONTARIANS TO DECIDE FUTURE OF HST
June 5, 2009 Letter to Federal Minsister of Finance
Challenges PC Leadership Candidates to Follow His Lead
(Klees HQ) Tonight, PC Leadership Candidate Frank Klees called on the federal government to delay the $4.3 billion cheque to the McGuinty Liberals, a payment which would enable the implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), until after the 2011 provincial election. The McGuinty government plans to introduce the HST on July 1, 2010, costing Ontario taxpayers billions of dollars and adding taxes to products and services that were never taxed before.
“This new tax was never discussed in the last provincial election and Ontarians have the right to have their say,” said Frank Klees during the third PC Leadership All-Candidates Meeting. “Ontario taxpayers have the right to answer the HST ballot question in the next provincial election.”
During the All-Candidates Meeting Klees presented a letter addressed to the Federal Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, asking him to delay the $4.3 billion payment until after the next provincial election. Klees challenged the other leadership candidates to add their names to his, to “protect Ontarians’ hard earned tax dollars.”
“In a period of economic uncertainty, now is not the time to be implementing this debilitating tax while Ontarians are struggling to find work and to make ends meet,” Klees argued. “I wrote the letter, knowing that every leadership candidate is opposed to this tax, and now I hope I can count on their support.”
Klees was the first Ontario PC Caucus member to fight Dalton McGuinty on the implementation of the HST. His criticism of the proposed harmonization of the provincial and federal sales tax predates the PC Leadership Campaign. Tonight, his proposal received an enthusiastic response with thunderous applause from the audience at the sold out All-Candidates Meeting at Seneca College in Markham.
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