Canada Day is meant to celebrate our country and all that we have to be thankful for.
It’s a day to say happy birthday and be proud of all of our accomplishments along the way.
And that’s a lot.

But this year Canada Day is marred by the unsightly, unwelcome and unwanted Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).
Yes, the day we celebrate our country is also the day the dreaded HST is to be implemented.
Hair cuts, gas, legal fees and various other goods will now go up eight per cent as the Provincial Sales Tax is tacked on to the General Sales Tax, bringing the grand total to 13 per cent on some items.

While most of the goods on the checklist handed down from the provincial government could be looked upon as frivolous items, like dry cleaning services, massage therapy and green fees for golf, there are other areas where the taxpayer is going to get hit hard.
Home renovations, real estate commissions, electricity and heating are just a few on the endless list that the government is handing out in its “What changes –and what doesn’t change- under the HST” pamphlet.

So while we are just coming off a costly billion dollar G20 summit that seemed to rock the province and the Greater Toronto Area more than the five magnitude earthquake did, we are again getting slammed with yet more costs.

Did the government think this tax would be well received? Highly doubtful.
Yes, we will adjust, Canadians always do. But it doesn’t mean we have to like it.
So while we celebrate this wonderful country we live in, one can’t help but ask, is this year really a Happy Canada Day?