What’s 1% worth to you?
The Conservative government’s recent decision to reduce the GST by 1% are getting negative reviews from economists. The gist of their argument seems to be that keeping consumption taxes (like the GST) high, and reducing income taxes would do more to stimulate the Canadian economy. It does seem to make sense.
Meanwhile, the GST cut is going to cost the government $5 billion in revenues. $5 billion dollars so that I can save a lousy penny the next time I buy a coffee. The largest purchase I’ve made in the past while was a $260 skateboard (which my Lovely graciously paid off). The savings from the GST cut if I’d waited until July? $2.60. I would much rather pay the extra 1% on all of my purchases if I knew that the cash was going to a good cause, like healthcare, education, or any of those other useful things that the government is supposed to do.
I’m not sure if a skateboard would qualify. But it definitely fits as “an alternative means of transportation. 
Under the Green Party’s idea of “Eliminating the GST on things that improve society and reduce our ecological footprint such as hybrid vehicles, bicycles, alternative medicine, and books” (taken from http://www.greenparty.ca/index.php~module=announce&ANN_user_op=view&ANN_id=166.html) would a skateboard qualify? Just like a bike it can be used as a means of transportation.
Anyhow, yeah, I didn’t really care for the idea of cutting the GST by 1%. It seemed like a ploy to coax voters while then turning around and saying they didn’t have any more money to put into what you refer to as “useful things that government is supposed to do.”
Not to mention the fact that I have been using the total tax on my meal to determine the tip I leave at a restaurant since it was a convenient 15% here in Ontario. Now I’ll have to adjust.