MISSISSAUGA – Conservative leader Stephen Harper today announced that a new Conservative government will cut the GST to 5%.
The Conservatives will immediately cut the GST to 6%. The tax will be reduced further to 5% within five years. (In New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia, the HST reduction will be the same: 1% right away, and a further 1% over five years.)
“Mainstream Canadians – hardworking people who pay their taxes and play by the rules – need a new government that will put their interests ahead of self-interest,” Harper said. “We will start by reducing taxes for all.”
Harper observed that while the Liberals were in power the amount of GST taken from Canadians has doubled, from $15.9 billion to $31.8 billion. The increase exceeded inflation and outstripped growth in people’s earnings. Were the old Manufacturers’ Sales Tax in place, it would only generate $24 billion, far less than the Liberals are taking from Canadians with the GST.
Meanwhile, the Liberals have spent money on themselves and their friends, and wasted billions of taxpayers’ dollars. The total federal surplus was $63 billion during the last eight years and is projected to total $55 billion over the next six.
The Conservative Party opposed the Liberal tax package in Parliament. Reducing the GST is one part of the Conservative plan to reduce taxes for all Canadians. We will deliver some additional targeted tax cuts, and will deliver additional broad based tax relief when affordable.
Just before the election, the Liberals promised last-minute personal income tax reductions. A Conservative government would enact the retroactive measures applying to the 2005 tax year. We would suspend their future measures in order to deliver broad-based and responsible tax relief, which will ultimately save Canadians more in their taxes and will be affordable in terms of the delivery of federal services.
“The immediate result of cutting the GST will be $4.5 billion back in the pockets of ordinary Canadians. When the GST cut is fully implemented, the total benefit will be much greater.”
Harper acknowledged that old-style politics and broken Liberal promises make people skeptical. That’s why this pledge is tangible and measurable.
“This will be a tax cut that you will see every time you shop, tax relief that you experience, a tax break that no politician will be able to take away without you noticing.”
-30-
For further information: Conservative Party Press Office (613) 755-2191
Carolyn Stewart Olsen, Press Secretary to the Leader (613) 297-9479
