Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to take part in this debate today. I want to speak a little about some of the benefits that harmonizing the sales tax will bring, in particular to consumers in Atlantic Canada.
It is very interesting to know that in polling and in otherwise questioning consumers in the Atlantic provinces that have agreed to harmonize the sales tax with the federal government, over 79 per cent of persons polled-and I am happy to say that the major poll was taken in the city of Halifax in my riding-were in favour of tax inclusive pricing.
It is very important for people to realize, even some of the people on the other side, and really understand what is happening and what tax inclusive pricing means for consumers. It is something all of us as legislators have heard of since the first time the GST was brought in. The bottom line is that consumers want to know how much they have to pay before they get to the cash register.
Every single one of us has had the experience while shopping of seeing something that we want to buy for ourselves, a family member or whatever and thinking the price is reasonable and within the realm of what we have decided we want to pay. We go to the cash register only to discover that the tax bite has put it over the top of where we want to be. That of course is something that distresses consumers every day.