Liberal promise to cut HST draws skeptical response
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NDP Leader Claudia Chender said her party agrees that people definitely need a break.
“We’ve spent the last several months talking about affordability but the question is how do you do that in a meaningful way,” Chender said.
“The reality of an across-the-board tax cut is that it benefits the people who spend the most and what we want to do is benefit all everyday Nova Scotians who are experiencing challenges.”
Chender said the NDP government in Nova Scotia that raised the HST rate 14 years ago also took the provincial sales tax off home energy all together and removed the provincial sales tax from children’s clothing and other necessities.
“The rationale of the Liberals is that people need things and they are paying taxes on them. We are really open to a question about whether we provide tax relief on necessities.”
The NDP leader also challenged the Liberal calculations.
“I’m curious about that math,” she said. “If we’re talking averages, if you look at the difference between the lowest paid person and the highest and what their monthly spend is, you are going to have people paying wildly different amounts of (sales) tax. To average that out does not seem like a good, genuine indicator of how it’s going to impact Nova Scotia families.”
Chender said the Liberal policy "feels like a big promise in anticipation of an election."
Turnbull said the Liberal plan is unlikely to have a major impact on the affordability crisis in the province.
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