TORONTO - Ontario's opposition parties say the Liberal government shut down public hearings into the proposed harmonized sales tax in the middle of debate.
The Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats say the Liberals used a procedural manoeuvre late Monday night to end hearings into the bill to create a 13 per cent sales tax.
The Liberals asked for a quorum call but refused to return, forcing the Liberal chairwoman to declare the public hearings into the HST over.
The New Democrats accuse the Liberals of walking off the job.
Conservative critic Lisa MacLeod says the Liberals are afraid to face public opposition to the new tax, which will apply to items now exempt from the PST, including gasoline and home heating fuel.
The government says the Conservatives were wasting time, demanding recorded votes on 500,000 Opposition amendments that would have essentially rendered the HST useless.
Less than 4,000 of the Tory amendments had been read into the record when the Liberals shut down the hearings.
The Opposition staged a two-man, 44-hour occupation of the legislature, delayed proceedings with votes and repeatedly called Premier Dalton McGuinty a liar during the fight over the HST.
The NDP and Tories both tried to force public hearings across Ontario on the blending of the eight per cent provincial sales tax with the five per cent goods and services tax.
The government says the HST, combined with corporate and income tax cuts, will help create nearly 600,000 new jobs over the next decade.
