Shoot First and Answer the Questions Later...

Seems that the sky's the limit when it comes to the government raking in bucks from taxes on heat doesn't it?

That is,until today...

Bernard Lord,the Premier of New Brunswick just saved our Consumer Group a heck of a lot of work and may very well have landed himself in hot water with the other Atlantic Canadian premiers.

Why?

My understanding of the HST Agreement signed between the Canadian federal government and the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador,Nova Scotia and New Brunswick was that no province could make a change to it's taxation without the consent of the other co-signees to the initial Agreement.

The reality of it all is that if Mr.Lord weren't in a minority government position this "Energy Policy" renewal probably wouldn't have happened-a time when he has a tenuous hold on power.

The Agreement,signed to in 1997/98 was meant to lower taxation levels on all consumer items but it ended up taxing items that never had a level of provincial taxation as well.Some of those items included heating oils and electricity,two of the most important winter needs a Canadian could have.

It's also a health concern...

On March 28/01,ironically the same day five years earlier,our group called the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices also had a petition for the removal of taxes off "heat" presented in our local House of Assembly.Some 55 thousand people over a stormy 3 weekends and also online,signed the petition.It was one of the most heavily signed petitions that was ever presented and garnered in the province to that point.

Fast forward to Nova Scotia this past couple of weeks where one Mr.John Hill of Dartmouth,Nova Scotia is literally working from the end of his driveway in getting people to sign his petition for the removal of taxes off "heat".

We've also helped Mr.Hill in his drive by posting his petition at our website and,so far,some groups from the outlying areas of Nova Scotia have increased the odds of the goal being reached there.

Thanks to Lloyd and crew in Cape Breton,Mr.Hill also has a group going door to door to get names to present this coming few days.

We're almost there!...

This is an opportune time and one I wouldn't have missed for the world...To find Atlantic Canada in a situation where there are three Tory governments and all of them being forced to work with each other for the benefit of the consumer!...

With all the revenues that Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador have coming in from $65 dollar a barrel oil right now and all the revenues renewed from the Atlantic Accord...Tell the truth now....Should we have been made to wait this long only to hear Bernard Lord make the announcement first?...

That's a Tory for ya!....