Budget day in Nova Scotia and we all learned quickly that taxes - already among the highest in Canada in almost every category - are now going even higher. The HST is going up by 2 points so that almost everything you purchase on a daily basis will be more expensive. Imagine what that home renovation, the car (and the gas for it), or even the cleaning supplies for your home will cost now. This may drive more business underground and more shoppers across the border.
Speaking of the border, the NDP solution to the higher gas prices on the Nova Scotia border was to raise the price even further by increasing the tax, and not even stopping there. Almost everything will now be cheaper in New Brunswick.
The NDP added a high income tax bracket, which they promise will be eliminated once the provincial finances are back in shape. Yes, and that was promised for income tax too. I wonder when that is going to disappear? It was amusing to note that the high income tax bracket was set high enough to ensure that all cabinet ministers except the premier are exempt. That's leading by example.
The premier still won't pay his bar fees back maybe that's why his finance minister felt he should pay the high income surtax. The premier implied today in the house that he doesn't know how much taxpayers shelled out for the bar fees. Really? He sure knows now that he's paying the bill himself. Dexter claims it was government policy to pay the fees. If that was the case, fine, prove it and table the policy in the house. He won't do it because all the evidence thus far suggests there was no such policy. Afterall, why would the leader of the Official Opposition need his bar fees paid anyhow?
The next few weeks the legislature will be tied up in budget meetings. The NDP have a lot of broken promises to answer for. Most of them promises many people knew were ill advised during the election - but even when confronted the NDP stuck with it. Crass attempt to get votes during the election if you ask me. So here we stand, three years more of higher taxes, broken promises, and as a result people leaving the province for opportunities elsewhere. The Dexter bus has moved on from throwing its own members under its wheels. Now it's throwing Nova Scotians under the bus too.
