One of the main priorities of the Ontario PC Caucus as we lead into the fall session of the Ontario Legislature is to continue our fight against the Dalton Sales Tax grab.

Starting next summer, Dalton McGuinty plans to merge the PST and GST into one tax, which means the PST will be applied to a whole new range of goods and services previously not taxed in Ontario. We call it the Dalton Sales Tax or DST.

If the DST is implemented, it will cost more to fill up your car. It will cost more to heat your home. It will cost more for your internet service. It will cost more to rent an apartment or buy a new home. Heck, it will even cost more to get your double-double at Tim Horton’s in the morning.

You know, a tax hike on Tim Horton’s coffee is bad enough, but a hike on the cost of playing hockey is bordering on un-Canadian!

But that’s what stands to happen should Dalton McGuinty unleash his latest tax grab on parents who already sacrifice so much for their children to play minor hockey or other organized sports.

Recreational facility rental fees, such as those for ice rinks, baseball diamonds and soccer fields, will all increase by 8 per cent should the Dalton Sales Tax hike come into effect next summer.

This affects thousands of minor league sports associations across the province, which rent ice time or playing fields for several months and thousands of hours every season. For many, including those for minor hockey and figure skating, the increased costs of the DST will be unsustainable.

These not-for-profit organizations have to find some way to cover the extra thousands of dollars in operating costs, forcing most of them to pass the costs on to parents when they register their kids for the season or for training clinics.
When you consider the DST will also apply to the gasoline you use driving to and from the arena, the coffee and snack you buy during the game, and the internet service you use to check schedules and standings online, this tax grab will be simply unaffordable for many families.

And for some parents, these extra costs could make the difference between whether their child gets in the game or just sits at home.

Today, I am asking you to join me and the Ontario PC Caucus in the fight to stop the DST by signing a petition to oppose Dalton’s massive tax grab. The petition is available on our Stop the DST website at www.daltonsalestax.com. We have to tell Dalton McGuinty now that enough is enough, because starting July 1, 2010, the DST will hit everyone, everywhere in this province.