Mr. Speaker, according to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, if the government's GST harmonization deal goes through in Atlantic Canada, housing prices will go up 5.5 per cent, municipalities will be forced to raise taxes, the sales tax on books, of course, will be doubled and the tax in pricing policy will wipe out profit margins for small businesses and gut jobs.
Will the government finally admit to Canadians that this was nothing but a desperate backroom deal to weasel out of its broken election promise on the GST? Will it save Canadian taxpayers a billion dollars by deep sixing it now before more damage is done to the Atlantic Canadian economy?