Government is cutting the provincial HST equivalent on gas and diesel through the winter months in a temporary affordability measure announced this morning – but whether the break will be extended remains to be seen.

The tax cut – equating to 8 cents a litre – will take effect on December 1st and run until March 31st.

Finance Minsiter Craig Pardy is promising future legislation that would automatically drop the tax once the price of oil hits a certain threshold, though he stopped short of providing specific details.

Pardy notes that if the price of oil remains high come April 1st, government will extend the tax break, otherwise the tax will return on fuel bills in the spring.

He says many may ask why not eliminate it altogether?

He says tax revenue funds thing like health care and education. “Forty-two per cent of our expenditures in government go towards health. Sixteen per cent go toward education. It’s what taxes do for us.”