...and did twice. It is obvious they enjoyed what came with the HST rebate cheques.
Thanks for almost nothing, Dalton: Editorial
Last Updated: September 7, 2010 7:18pm
Hey, $50 is $50.
Since Premier Dalton McGuinty, out of the goodness of his … uh … heart, is prepared to give parents up to $50 through a tax credit to help defray the costs of extra-curricular activities for kids under 16, we aren’t going to tell him to take it back.
Or the maximum $100 credit for disabled children under 18.
That said, let’s call this what it is.
It’s an attempt to put lipstick on a pig.
The pig is the Harmonized Sales Tax McGuinty imposed July 1, which added 8% to the cost of these activities.
So, having gouged an extra $3 billion out of our pockets via the HST, McGuinty is now returning $75 million to parents to help pay for the extra-curricular activities of up to 1.8 million children.
Assuming, of course, those parents can afford to spend $500 on activities for their kids in order to get the full $50 tax credit. And many parents can’t afford these activities at all.
As NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said, if McGuinty really cared about ensuring children have access to extra-curricular activities, he wouldn’t have slapped the HST on everything from ballet lessons to hockey ice time for kids in the first place.
McGuinty’s tax credit is slightly smaller than the federal Conservative government’s tax credit of up to $500 for parents with children in sporting activities, although the premier’s tax break at least applies to activities other than sports.
That said, all this simply suggests McGuinty has no real idea of the enormity of the tax burden he has placed on Ontarians with the imposition of the HST.
Slapping 8% more on the costs of electricity, gasoline and home heating fuel, along with hundreds of other goods and services, at a time when the Ontario economy is still struggling to emerge from a recession, was irresponsible and cruel.
McGuinty still seems oblivious to the economic hardship he has caused.
What he’s clearly hoping for is that public anger will subside in time for next year’s provincial election if he offers up a few trinkets to an angry public, as he did Monday with his tax credit for children’s activities.
Sounds to us like he’s whistling past the political graveyard.
His.
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Grant H....you are such a moron.
Go and get a job with the Liberal party.
You'll fit right in.