HST = GST + PST

HST FAQ
Public Opinion Poll

Harmonized Sales Tax, proposed by Dalton Mguinty's Liberals, and planned to be implemented next July, is the amalgamation of provincial sales tax with the GST. This would end up saving businesses a great amount of money normally spent on administration fees of paying two separate taxes. The idea is to strengthen economy for the future.
However, there's a visible downside for the consumer. Goods that used to be void of PST and contain only GST will now be subjected to both taxes under this new harmonization. The provincial government counters this by saying there are going to deal out large amounts of tax relief over the next three years that will actually save people more money then they lose. Yet the public consensus so far seems to be that this is a bad thing.
I find this example of public opinion is not surprising. When do people ever support increased taxes? People look out for themselves as individuals first, and they don't want to spend more money on a daily basis as they purchase their goods. Even though they might actually save money, the increased cost of day to day purchases of goods may feel more substantial than that quarterly tax refund.
Already their is talk of boycotting spending, which is the opposite of what the government wants to encourage in this time of economic recession. The opposite strategy is to spend a lot, just spend it now. Pre-Pay Before May as they're terming it.
Individually, no one wants taxes to increase, but the constant balance has to always be realized. The more taxes the government collects, the more they can give us in social programs and services. It's a classic problem, but people always seem to have the conception that the lower the taxes, the better. It just makes you wonder how conscious they are of what their taxes do for them?