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Opposition Leader Gerry Reid says Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan is
misleading the people of the province related to profits being made from the
high price of oil and his reasoning for not lowering the HST portion of the
tax charged to gasoline, home heating fuel and electricity. "We have asked
Minister Sullivan several times to lower the HST portion of the tax applied
to gasoline, home heating fuel and electricity in light of the high cost of
oil," said Mr. Reid. "Originally, Minister Sullivan said this could not be
done because he needed to have agreement from other Atlantic provinces and
the federal government. Now that Nova Scotia is requesting a similar tax
decrease to happen in that province, Minister Sullivan is refusing to
support this initiative and will not give Newfoundland and Labrador’s
consent for the HST portion of the tax to be reduced.
"Minister Sullivan’s statements in the media on Friday night demonstrate
this government is not willing to give up their windfall profits to help out
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, the people whose pockets are being picked
by this government. It is unfortunate that Minister Sullivan is misleading
the people of the province and using this false excuse as a crutch.
"The Finance Minister is also trying to convince people that government
is not making increased profits from the high price of gas. The people of
this province are not that gullible. As the price of gas increases, the
profits that government receives from their portion of the HST continues to
increase. Each time the price of gas goes up, so do the windfall profits
being raked in by this provincial government.
"I am disappointed that Minister Sullivan continuously misleads the
people of the province. If he truly wanted to do something that will help
out the ordinary Newfoundlander and Labradorian, I suggest he allow Nova
Scotia to move forward with their HST tax reductions. I would also suggest
to Minister Sullivan that instead of using his power to block this move, he
should follow Nova Scotia’s lead and give the people of this province a
break on the high price of gas, oil and electricity. If the minister used
half as much energy he puts into his false excuses, we would probably
already have an initiative developed that would help consumers."
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