Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Government, PCs argue PST hike case in court
By: Bruce Owen
Posted: 11:24 AM | Comments: 15
Did the NDP thumb its nose at Manitobans when it raised the provincial sales tax a year ago, without a referendum, or was it simply following established government procedure?
That's the bones of today's court case over last year's to the PST.
Brian Pallister's Progressive Conservatives argue the NDP's one percentage point tax hike robbed Manitobans right to vote on the increase.
That's because the NDP in one fell swoop did away with holding a public referendum, as required under the 1995 Taxpayer Protection Act--an act brought in under the Tory government of Gary Filmon--when it raised the tax.
"Why do it in one bill?" the PC's lawyer Robert Tapper said in court, before Queen's Bench judge Kenneth Hanssen. "Was it arrogance?"
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/loc...261845911.html
anyone watch the live stream?