On belated disclosure

There's little doubt that the Harper Cons have managed to take information suppression to new depths. But it's worth noting that the McGuinty Libs have followed exactly the same pattern of suppressing relevant information until it's too late when it comes to the HST.

Remember that the McGuinty government didn't bother actually providing the public with any detailed information as to what the HST would mean - leaving it to outside actors to provide their own estimates which allowed for multiple conflicting talking points to try to sell the HST. But that doesn't mean the government didn't crunch the numbers for itself. And it's just now starting to release its own information as to the costs of harmonization after it's already forced through the enabling legislation:

The Harmonized Sales Tax will cost you about $225 a year — before you even flick a switch or touch your thermostat.

That’s according to Ministry of Finance estimates of what the coming HST will do to your monthly electricity and natural gas bill, obtained by the New Democratic Party through a Freedom of Information request.
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The NDP had requested seven months ago to find out what the government was assuming the impact of the HST would be on household energy bills — currently taxed 5% under the federal Goods and Services Tax.
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The document the government released reveals little else about what the Ministry of Finance assumes will happen when the HST takes effect. Only four paragraphs were actually released, with the remaining sections of the four pages the NDP received marked “non-responsive.”