The federal Conservatives have put the Liberals in a pickle by rushing ahead with plans to harmonize the federal sales tax with provincial taxes in British Columbia and Ontario.
Ottawa will introduce legislation next week that enables the provinces to proceed with a harmonized sales tax, according to draft talking points prepared for Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
The notes say the legislation will be technical, and will not be a confidence measure that could force the government to fall.
So the Conservatives are safe, and will not trigger an election with the legislation, but the Liberals are in a more precarious position. They have been unclear about whether they support the HST.
The harmonized tax scheme is unpopular with consumers and has given the federal NDP some ammunition as well as helped with a byelection victory earlier this month.
But it was originally championed by the former Liberal government. And provincial Liberal governments in both B.C. and Ontario have expended significant political capital in introducing the measure -- albeit while accepting large sums of federal money to help with the transition.
