British Columbians feel more severely affected by the HST compared with their Ontario brethren, according to an Angus Reid poll released Thursday.
About 31% of British Columbians say the HST has severely affected the finances of their households, compared with only 24% of Ontario residents in a poll conducted in mid-August. About 43% of Ontarians said the HST has moderately affected their household finances, versus 37% of B.C. residents.
About 23% in both provinces said they were only slightly affected by the HST, while 9% in B.C. and 7% in Ontario said the HST has not affected their household finances at all.
Spending areas most affected by British Columbians included dining out (89%), basic groceries (76%), cell phone bills (63%) and adult clothing (61%).
Ontario residents felt the HST mostly in their electricity bill (80%), and gas prices (79%), energy products that are HST-exempt in B.C.
Despite similar products and services being affected by the HST in Ontario and B.C., residents in both provinces reported very different spending behviour.
A plurality of B.C. residents (42%) said they are buying somewhat less because of the HST, while a plurality of Ontario residents (42%) said the HST has not impacted their purchasing behaviour. About 29% in B.C. and 22% in Ontario said they are spending less.
In both provinces, the vast majority of people said their respective provincial governments did a bad job at explaining its decision to implement the HST with 75% of those in B.C. and 45% in Ontario saying the government did a very bad job.