HST cut not on the table for N.S. Progressive Conservatives
New Brunswick PCs have promised 2-point cut if re-elected
There might be a sales tax cut coming for New Brunswickers, but Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservative government is leaving no room for doubt — it's not planning to follow suit.
In the run-up to a New Brunswick general election, Premier Blaine Higgs has promised to cut the HST by two percentage points over two years if he's re-elected.
Nova Scotia Finance Minister Allan MacMaster told reporters Thursday after a cabinet meeting that such a cut isn't in the best interest of all Nova Scotians right now.
What's best, he said, is continuing to focus on improving health care.
"To remove approximately half a billion dollars out of the provincial budget at a time when we're investing to rebuild the health-care system, I don't think that would be prudent," said MacMaster.
He said the province is providing tax relief in another way, highlighting the decision to index tax brackets to inflation, which starts next year.
Surpluses 'modest'
Each year since coming to power in 2021, the PC government has run a surplus and made more than a billion dollars in additional spending outside the budget.
MacMaster argued those surpluses were "modest" and would not justify the hit to revenue that would result from an HST cut.
Opposition Leader Zach Churchill has previously promised that a Liberal government would cut the sales tax from 15 per cent to 13 per cent.
He said a possible cut in New Brunswick underscores the need for such a change.
Competition at the border
"It's going to be a particular issue in Cumberland County, in Amherst, if people can drive across the border and save two per cent," he said Thursday.
The Liberal Party has estimated that a two-point HST cut could save each Nova Scotian $650 a year. Churchill said the $500-million cost would be worth the impact.
"This is a way to broadly help all Nova Scotians who are struggling with the rising cost of living in this province," he said.
NDP Leader Claudia Chender was not ready to promise her party would cut the HST, but she said it's clear that Nova Scotians need some financial relief.
She said indexing tax brackets to inflation will not adequately address the cost-of-living crisis.
Chender's party has previously called for provincial sales tax to be waived on all grocery items, rather than just the select items that are now exempt, and she reiterated that call Thursday.
"I think that the government can afford to do a lot more than they are doing now to address the challenges that everyday Nova Scotians are facing," Chender said.
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