Today in the House of Assembly, NDP Leader Jim Dinn (St. John’s Centre) called out the PC government for failing to deliver on its promise to lower taxes, after shutting down debate and voting against a further reduction to the gas tax and instead making the current cut “permanent”.
Dinn noted that not everyone owns or drives a vehicle, meaning many people will see little to no benefit from this particular reduction. With gas prices already volatile and as cost continues to rise, he argues this approach does not provide meaningful or reliable relief for people. He pointed instead to a broader, more impactful solution: removing the HST from all forms of home heating.
“Speaker, last night, the government invoked and passed legislation to make the gas tax reduction permanent. While many people drive, many do not. However, everyone must heat their home. We also know from the story of the gentleman who walked into the Ambulatory health Hub, many cannot afford to do so,” Dinn said.
“I ask the Premier, now that he has passed the status quo gas tax, will he commit to removing the provincial portion of the HST off all forms of home heating and actually cut tax?”
Dinn continues to push for the removal of HST from home heating, a long-standing NDP policy that was previously implemented by a PC government in 2011. He underscored inconsistency in the current government’s approach, arguing that campaigning on tax cuts should mean delivering real, meaningful tax relief – not half measures that leave many people behind.
“Speaker, it mystifies me why the party that has “lower taxes” as the middle name of its slogan and promotes it as an affordability measure is so reluctant to help people heat their homes. While people may be able to park their car and drive less, they do not have the same flexibility when it comes to heating their homes,” said Dinn. “I ask the Premier, why won’t his government put the same effort into lowering people’s heating bills that they put into maintaining the gas tax?”