Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question. Hon. members will know that Canadians have expressed a strong preference to know the full price of goods and services in advance of making their purchases.
I had the privilege of travelling with the finance committee on the GST consultation. If there was one refrain we heard from one end of the country to the other it was: "We want to know what things are going to cost. We don't want sticker shock, counter shock".
Tax inclusive pricing under the harmonized sales tax agreement with the three Atlantic provinces responds directly to the preference that has been expressed by Canadians across this country.
With tax inclusive pricing consumers in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador will know before they get to the cash register what their intended purchases will actually cost, and as such they will make better informed purchasing decisions.
As noted in the HST technical paper-