You really have to laugh at Gilles Duceppe's response to Stephen Harper's suggestion to cut the GST:

In spite of its unpopularity, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe has rejected the idea of cutting the GST by two percentage points to five per cent.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has proposed gradually cutting the consumption tax. But Duceppe said the Bloc is not supporting the Tory proposal. ...

Duceppe said the Bloc would prefer the federal government transferred part of federal tax revenues or tax points to the provinces to eliminate the so-called fiscal imbalance between Ottawa and the provinces.

"It (the GST) should be given back to the provinces gradually," he added.

Gee, what would the world look like if the federal government transfered tax points to the provinces? It would look like a cut in the GST (on the federal end) and an increase in provincial taxes (on Quebec's end). I.e., the Prime Minister would do exactly what Stephen Harper is promising to do.

What Gilles Duceppe really wants is for the Government of Canada to keep collecting 7% GST and then sending even more money than that to Quebec. The federal-provincial "fiscal imbalance" is a joke. It is just a Quebec bargaining position, used to make requests for money sound like there is a justification behind them.

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