The HST: The Conservative Family Feud Edition

Whether it’s within Party ranks or in the household, no one likes a family feud.

Just ask the Harper Conservatives who are having a tough time convincing Canadians that it’s the provincial governments of British Columbia and Ontario who are the only ones driving the implementation of the HST. The reason? It’s simply not true.

But don’t take New Democrats’ word for it. Let’s look at what Conservatives are saying:

“[Federal Conservatives] can't divorce themselves away from this. They're part of this whole scheme. I don't know where the federal people can say they have nothing to do with it – it's their invention.” – Ontario Conservative MPP Bill Murdoch, Toronto Sun, August 19, 2009.

"It is the Conservative party of Canada and we are the Progressive Conservative party of Ontario … And we're going to be opposing this with all the energy we can muster." - Bob Runciman, then Ontario PC interim leader, Ottawa Citizen, March 27 2009

“Harmonization has long been a pet issue of Jim Flaherty, the federal Finance Minister and a former member of Ontario's Conservative caucus. Despite Flaherty's advocacy, and the Conservative government's $4.3 billion in support, the provincial Conservatives vowed to fight the harmonization.”- James Cowan, National Post, Thursday, March 26, 2009

Tragically, the family feud is hitting close to home as well:

“Ironically, one of Flaherty's biggest opponents to the idea of harmonized sales tax may be his wife, Christine Elliott. She and other Ontario Progressive Conservatives were blasting McGuinty's HST plan even as Flaherty and the federal Conservatives were praising it. - Canwest News Service, March 30, 2009

“Mr. Flaherty's wife , [Conservative MPP Christine Elliott]…also opposes her husband's tax.” – Editorial, National Post, September 28, 2009

Why won’t Stephen Harper end the family feud by scrapping his government’s plans to introduce the HST, an unfair tax shift onto everyday families that he himself said was “not the way to reverse the economic decline of this country”?