General

Harper promises to compensate Quebec’s HST adoption

Tories say $2.2-billion in compensation won’t hinder cutting the deficit

The Conservatives say their promise to compensate Quebec to the tune of $2.2 billion for its adoption of the HST will not have any adverse effect on their efforts to eliminate the deficit by 2015. Last week, the Conservatives signed a deal with Quebec that promised the compensation amount by next September if they are re-elected. Some observers see the deal as a way of assuaging the province after the Tories pledged a multibillion-dollar loan guarantee for the Lower Churchill hydro project in Newfoundland and Labrador. Harper defended the agreement, saying the outlines of an HST deal with Quebec were in the words before the election campaign began, and that “it will not change the overall downward path of the deficit over the next few years.”

The Globe and Mail

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