Starting July 1, feminine hygiene products will no longer be subject to Canada’s five percent “Goods and Services” tax (GST), thanks to a petition signed by nearly 75,000 Canadians. The petition’s author, Jill Piebiak, pointed out that it’s offensive for the Canadian government to designate a menstrual hygiene product as a “nonessential item” or a “luxury good.”
New Democratic Party (NDP) politician Irene Mathyssen introduced legislation to make the change. She said in a statement, “The women who made this an issue, their voices have finally been heard. Finally, the government has listened to reason and put an end to this injustice. That is a victory for all women.” Preach.
This is all good news, but Canadian women aren’t completely out of the woods yet. Officials may have removed the unfair 5% tax last month, but according to Canadian Business there’s still a set of import tariffs on these items. The tariffs have been greatly criticized for burying importers in red tape and generating very little tax revenue for the Canadian federal government. Many Canadians are now using the “tampon tax” issue as an opportunity to clean up Canada’s antiquated and unnecessarily complicated tariff regime.
Images via Change.org and Vice
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