On disparate treatment

A couple of weeks ago, the McGuinty government tried to pressure the mutual fund industry into backing the HST by threatening to inform the province about the harmful effect of investment fees. But I don't believe anybody else noted how bizarre it was that nobody seemed to be pointing out how problematic it would be for the province to be sitting on such information in the first place.

Now, it looks like the mutual fund industry and McGuinty's Libs are on the verge of a deal: they're currently talking about exempting the industry from the HST, which would presumably lead to the industry then backing the tax which they previously opposed.

So the industry gets a sweetheart deal exempting it from the rules which apply to the rest of the province, plus presumably some assurance that a damaging message won't get released.

The McGuinty government eliminates one of the voices opposing the HST.

And the citizens of Ontario get...no disclosure of the work their government has done on the costs of investment fees, one less voice on their side in trying to fight against a closed-door decision to make their lives more expensive, and one less industry paying the bill if the HST does come to pass.

Anybody else sense that something's not quite right about this arrangement?

Update: Let's note that Greg has already posted about the possible exemption. But I'd think the sequence of events looks an awful lot worse when the seemingly-withdrawn threat of full disclosure about the effect of investment fees is included in the mix.

Edit: fixed wording.