At this point we think Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is sitting back wondering where everything went wrong on his plans to implement the Harmonized Sales Tax.

We have no doubt McGuinty wanted this new tax grab put in place quietly and without much controversy. The Premier's plan was simple: take the four plus billion dollars offered by the federal government to help implement the GST, send out some rebate cheques to the masses and quietly get the whole matter in place before anybody raised a whiff of protest.

Thanks to Opposition Leader Tim Hudak and local MPP Bill Murdoch the Premier's plans are now in shambles.

Public focus on the HST is bound to spike over the next couple weeks after Murdoch and fellow MPP Randy Hillier staged a protest in the Ontario Legislature Monday afternoon and evening. Murdoch and Hillier were both suspended from the chambers, but refused to leave and eventually spent the night at Queen's Park. Their protests resumed Tuesday morning and led to Speaker Steve Peters to close down the House for the morning.

Many would call Murdoch and Hillier's filibuster immature and foolish. Those descriptions may be true, but the filibuster is also something else - very effective.

Murdoch and Hillier have managed to raise awareness of the HST issue. They also have the Liberal government on the run. No government wants to be seen as using its legislative power to ram through an unpopular tax increase, but that is now the perception the public is forming of the government.

The lack of public hearings the Liberals are holding on the HST is the major sticking point at this time. The government appears to want this HST issue gone and out of the public eye. Avoiding public comments on the matter just reinforces for the public that the government isn't interested in how taxpayers feel about the HST.

Government spin-doctors have been working overtime to get the HST issue back on track. They claim it is a "pro-business" tax and will be either be revenue neutral or will even reduce government revenue.

However, regardless of how the government spins the issue, the matter is very simple for most taxpayers: on July 1 next year the cost of essentials like home heating/cooling, fuel for the vehicles and electricity will increase by eight per cent. When they look around for whom to blame for that tax hike - it will be easy to find Premier Dalton McGuinty.