General

Bloc threatens to vote against budget

BQ leader Gilles Duceppe demands $2 billion in compensation for harmonizing PST and GST

Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe says he is prepared to tell his troops to vote against the federal budget if the Conservatives don’t accede to Quebec’s demands for $2 billion in compensation for harmonizing the PST and GST. Unlike B.C. and Ontario, both of which received multi-billion dollar payments from Ottawa in exchange for harmonizing provincial and federal sales taxes, Quebec was never compensated for doing the same thing in 1992. Recent reports have suggested provincial and federal negotiators are closing in on a deal with respect to harmonization, though Duceppe described those talks as having stalled. Duceppe added that the inclusion of a payment to the province doesn’t guarantee the Bloc will vote for the budget after all.

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