(CBC News)
Legislation to create a single 13% sales tax in Ontario passed third and final reading Wednesday despite strong objections and delaying tactics by the Opposition. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan told the legislature that blending the five per cent goods and services tax with the provincial tax will lower costs for businesses, allowing them to cut prices for consumers and hire more staff.
“Doing nothing is not an option [and] the status quo is just absolutely the wrong thing,” Duncan said in third-reading debate. “This package will create jobs.” The government estimates the harmonized sales tax (HST) will help create almost 600,000 jobs in Ontario over the next decade.
In an interview from Mumbai, India, Premier Dalton McGuinty said he is convinced the HST is critical to help reposition Ontario as it comes out of a recession in which the province lost hundreds of thousands of jobs.
“I think people understand in their heart of hearts that our world has changed and the old world is not coming back,” said McGuinty. “There are a number of things that we need to do to adjust to the new reality and secure a better future for our families, and one of those is to put in place a modern, competitive tax system.”
The opposition parties failed to convince the government to hold public hearings on the HST bill across the province, and accused the Liberals of being afraid to face a voter backlash against the new tax. The Liberals used their majority “to ram through the HST bill as quickly as possible and with little debate as possible,” said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.
The Progressive Conservatives reluctantly admitted defeat after weeks of trying to block the HST, including a 44-hour occupation of the legislature by two Tories, asking for frequent votes to delay proceedings, and repeatedly calling McGuinty a liar. Read more here.
Showing posts with label Ontario Business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ontario Business. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Manufacturing in Ontario Works: Pupatello
(Canadian Manufacturing – Mike Ouellette)
Two concrete messages came from the Revitalizing Canadian Manufacturing conference held yesterday at the Ted Rogers School of Management.
The first is that Canada desperately requires a national manufacturing policy similar to the policies enacted by all of the countries we compete against. This policy should contain sector-specific planning and be devised to encourage investment in emerging markets, not the overly-commoditized, ailing markets of years past – those have already been lost.
“You can’t create wealth in an economy by spinning people’s debt. You eventually have to make something people want to buy,” said Jayson Myers, president and chief economist for the Canadian Manufactures and Exporters.
Jim Stanford, an economist for the Canadian Autoworkers Union, says such a policy must include something for all sectors of manufacturing, citing the federal focus on the oil sands as an impediment to progress. “Digging stuff out of the ground and selling it to someone else to process makes you a ‘swack’ of money up front but doesn’t further the knowledge base, which is inherently more useful,” Stanford said. Read more here.
Two concrete messages came from the Revitalizing Canadian Manufacturing conference held yesterday at the Ted Rogers School of Management.
The first is that Canada desperately requires a national manufacturing policy similar to the policies enacted by all of the countries we compete against. This policy should contain sector-specific planning and be devised to encourage investment in emerging markets, not the overly-commoditized, ailing markets of years past – those have already been lost.
“You can’t create wealth in an economy by spinning people’s debt. You eventually have to make something people want to buy,” said Jayson Myers, president and chief economist for the Canadian Manufactures and Exporters.
Jim Stanford, an economist for the Canadian Autoworkers Union, says such a policy must include something for all sectors of manufacturing, citing the federal focus on the oil sands as an impediment to progress. “Digging stuff out of the ground and selling it to someone else to process makes you a ‘swack’ of money up front but doesn’t further the knowledge base, which is inherently more useful,” Stanford said. Read more here.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Ontario Sales Tax Reform: Small Pain for (Hopefully) Longer Term Gain
(CBC News)
Ontario’s budgetary move to blend its provincial sales tax with the federal goods and services tax might have some political watchers puzzled.
After all, Ontario has been hard hit by a manufacturing meltdown, especially in the auto sector. Thus, provincial unemployment is rising, making Ontario residents particularly crabby these days.
To analysts, boosting prices on household goods does not seem the best way for Ontario’s premier, Dalton McGuinty, to wiggle his way into voters’ good graces.
But, most economists sing in unison when it comes to tax harmonization.
These practitioners of the dismal science generally agree that, when a province adds its sales tax, eight per cent in Ontario’s case, to the current five per cent national GST, the region and the country as a whole win in terms of economic expansion and increased productivity.
“This tax reform is long overdue as Ontario struggles to put its economy on a better growth path,” wrote Jack Mintz, a University of Calgary economics professor and former president of the C.D. Howe Institute recently. Read more here.
Ontario’s budgetary move to blend its provincial sales tax with the federal goods and services tax might have some political watchers puzzled.
After all, Ontario has been hard hit by a manufacturing meltdown, especially in the auto sector. Thus, provincial unemployment is rising, making Ontario residents particularly crabby these days.
To analysts, boosting prices on household goods does not seem the best way for Ontario’s premier, Dalton McGuinty, to wiggle his way into voters’ good graces.
But, most economists sing in unison when it comes to tax harmonization.
These practitioners of the dismal science generally agree that, when a province adds its sales tax, eight per cent in Ontario’s case, to the current five per cent national GST, the region and the country as a whole win in terms of economic expansion and increased productivity.
“This tax reform is long overdue as Ontario struggles to put its economy on a better growth path,” wrote Jack Mintz, a University of Calgary economics professor and former president of the C.D. Howe Institute recently. Read more here.
CTF and Business Debate Ontario Tax Harmonization
(Canadian Taxpayers Federation)
Kevin Gaudet of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and and Len Crispino of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce discuss the merits and drawbacks of Ontario's plan to harmonize the PST with the GST on the CTV program Canada AM.
Kevin Gaudet of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and and Len Crispino of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce discuss the merits and drawbacks of Ontario's plan to harmonize the PST with the GST on the CTV program Canada AM.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Ontario to Merge Sales Tax with Federal Tax: Reports
(Reuters)
The government of Ontario will unveil tentative plans to harmonize its provincial sales tax with the federal sales tax in its budget on Thursday as it tries to help businesses weather the recession, several newspapers reported on Wednesday. The proposed reforms would see Ontario merge its 8% sales tax with the 5% federal good and services tax.
The reports said the changes are designed to help make businesses more competitive since the new harmonized system would allow companies a refund on taxes paid on goods and services to run their operations.
The move might anger consumers, however, as they may see increased taxes on items such as heating oil, diapers and children’s clothing, all which are now exempt from the provincial sales tax.
Earlier this month the province’s finance minister said Ontario would run a deficit of around C$18 billion ($14.6 billion) over the next two years as it spends money to try to stimulate the economy.
The Globe and Mail said the tax reforms are part of a move by the province to address its reversal of fortunes as the economy of Ontario, once the country’s richest province, has been one of the hardest hit by the recession. Read more here.
The government of Ontario will unveil tentative plans to harmonize its provincial sales tax with the federal sales tax in its budget on Thursday as it tries to help businesses weather the recession, several newspapers reported on Wednesday. The proposed reforms would see Ontario merge its 8% sales tax with the 5% federal good and services tax.
The reports said the changes are designed to help make businesses more competitive since the new harmonized system would allow companies a refund on taxes paid on goods and services to run their operations.
The move might anger consumers, however, as they may see increased taxes on items such as heating oil, diapers and children’s clothing, all which are now exempt from the provincial sales tax.
Earlier this month the province’s finance minister said Ontario would run a deficit of around C$18 billion ($14.6 billion) over the next two years as it spends money to try to stimulate the economy.
The Globe and Mail said the tax reforms are part of a move by the province to address its reversal of fortunes as the economy of Ontario, once the country’s richest province, has been one of the hardest hit by the recession. Read more here.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Ont. Premier Wants Obama to Think About Canada
(Jonathan Jenkins — Sun Media)
Cars, caps and customs are all Dalton McGuinty wants to hear about when U.S. President Barack Obama visits Ottawa tomorrow.
The Ontario premier met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper yesterday and said he hopes and expects the PM to talk about the auto sector, the border and a continental cap and trade system for carbon emissions with his guest.
“I’m hoping the prime minister will raise a few issues that are a concern to Ontarians,” McGuinty said this morning.
The continuing woes of the North American automakers are an obvious topic, as Canada and Ontario want to maintain their 20% stake in the dwindling industry – and have offered $4 billion in government aid to do so.
But with most of the decisions on that file being made in Washington, it will be critical that Obama takes the Canadian position to heart.
The thickening of the Canadian border is another longstanding Ontario worry as most of the province’s goods head south.
“We need to strike the appropriate balance between a secure border and a border at the same time that permits trade, the passage of goods and people,” McGuinty said. Read more here.
Cars, caps and customs are all Dalton McGuinty wants to hear about when U.S. President Barack Obama visits Ottawa tomorrow.
The Ontario premier met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper yesterday and said he hopes and expects the PM to talk about the auto sector, the border and a continental cap and trade system for carbon emissions with his guest.
“I’m hoping the prime minister will raise a few issues that are a concern to Ontarians,” McGuinty said this morning.
The continuing woes of the North American automakers are an obvious topic, as Canada and Ontario want to maintain their 20% stake in the dwindling industry – and have offered $4 billion in government aid to do so.
But with most of the decisions on that file being made in Washington, it will be critical that Obama takes the Canadian position to heart.
The thickening of the Canadian border is another longstanding Ontario worry as most of the province’s goods head south.
“We need to strike the appropriate balance between a secure border and a border at the same time that permits trade, the passage of goods and people,” McGuinty said. Read more here.
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