OTTAWA – Today New Democrat Bill Siksay (Burnaby-Douglas) has tabled a motion (M-465) to stop the Harmonised Sales Tax from being implemented in BC by cancelling a $1.6 billion federal incentive payment to the BC government.

“As Chair of the Federal New Democrat BC Caucus, I wanted our strong opposition to the HST to be crystal clear,” said Siksay.  “My colleagues and I believe this is a punishing tax that must be stopped.”

The HST would add another 7% to the cost of everyday purchases from clothes to newspapers to restaurant meals. This extra tax burden will hurt the pocketbooks of BC families and make life less affordable,” said Siksay.

The text of Siksay’s motion: That, in the opinion of the House, the government should give immediate notice to the Government of British Columbia that it no longer plans to introduce legislative measures to enable the implementation of a harmonized sales tax (HST) and that it plans to cancel its $1.6 billion offer to establish the HST in that province.

A similar motion (M-462) was tabled by New Democrat M.P. John Rafferty (Thunder Bay- Rainy River) that would eliminate the $4.3 billion federal HST incentive payment to the Ontario government.