The HST is adding a great deal to the heating bills for people in Ontario and BC. In Ontario the bill has actually gone up 17% due to the increased profit margin granted to electricity providers. The Ontario provincial NDP are asking that the Premier remove the 8% provincial portion from the hydro bill in order to help many low and middle income families cope. To date the request has fallen on deaf ears.
Federally, the NDP Leader Jack Layton has asked Prime Minister Harper, to reduce the HST on heating bills. Being the ever right wing protagonist, Brian Lilley at Eye On the Hill, a SUN media blog, came out with a story today with only half the facts, stating that Jack Layton was a Climate Change denier.
Lilley conveniently failed to read all of Jack's media release. Layton calls for reducing the HST and measures to assist people retrofit their homes to assist in reducing heating costs. You can read Brian's misrepresentation here and Jack's press release here.