Every parent on Prince Edward Island knows the drill. The backpack list comes home, the flyers pile up and the bill at the till stings a little more every year.

Part of that sting comes straight from the provincial government. Islanders pay 15 per cent HST on binders, pencils, calculators and lunch bags. That's tied for the highest sales tax in Canada.

Premier Rob Lantz can fix that. He should cut the HST and give Island families real relief.

It’s something neighbouring provinces are already doing.

The Nova Scotia government cut its HST from 15 to 14 per cent on April 1, 2025. That cut saves the average provincial household more than $350 a year. It was the first sales tax cut in that province in a generation and the sky didn't fall. Instead, families there can now keep a little more of their own money.

Meanwhile, Islanders driving across the bridge to shop in Moncton get no break at all. New Brunswick charges 15 per cent too. The whole region is stuck at the top of the tax table, except Nova Scotia, which decided taxpayers deserved better.

And then there’s Alberta. Alberta has no provincial sales tax. Shoppers there pay only the five per cent federal GST. Load up a cart with $500 worth of school supplies in Charlottetown and the tax bill is $75. Load up the same cart in Calgary and it's $25. Same pencils. Same binders. Same exercise books. The only difference is the government's cut.

That gap is a choice. Politicians in Alberta chose to leave that money with families. Politicians on the Island chose to take it.

Lantz gave his government the mandate to address “affordability pressures facing Island families and seniors,” when he was sworn-in as premier earlier this year.

There is no better way to improve affordability for Islanders than cutting taxes.

And the HST is the perfect place to start because it hits everyone. It hits the single mom buying sneakers in Summerside. It hits the senior replacing a broken kettle in Montague. It hits the young couple furnishing their first apartment in Stratford. Nobody escapes it and nobody can shop around it, unless they leave the Island.

The provincial government will say it can’t afford a tax cut. But there is a lot of opportunities for the Lantz government to find savings that would allow it to both cut taxes and reducing government debt. This includes cutting the $295 million a year in corporate welfare that the Lantz government gives out to select businesses and stopping costly project overruns, which cost taxpayers about $70 million in recent years.

Nova Scotia showed the way forward. Premier Tim Houston cut the HST because he said people were struggling with the cost of living. Islanders are struggling with the same costs, and facing the highest sales tax rate in the country. If Houston could find room for a cut, Lantz can too.

A one-point cut would take P.E.I. from worst to merely bad. That’s a start. The long-term goal should be bigger. Every point of HST the government takes is money families can’t spend at Island businesses, on Island main streets, in Island communities.

Back-to-school season is the right time to make the case. Parents don’t need a lecture about fiscal frameworks. They need relief at the cash register. They can see the tax on every receipt and they know exactly where it goes.

Lantz has a choice. He can keep P.E.I. tied for the highest sales tax in Canada or he can cut it and give families a break they’ll feel every time they shop.