After a decade of non-stop tax cuts, the pendulum may be starting to swing in the other direction. In today’s Nova Scotia budget, Darrell Dexter has proposed a 2 point HST hike. This comes on the heels of Jean Charest’s taxapalooza last week, and Michael Ignatieff’s promise to cancel corporate tax cuts.

And even though they’re not exactly tax hikes, Gordon Campbell survived his carbon tax and has, like McGuinty, gone the harmonization route.

So what gives? Have Canadian politicians, renowned for risk-aversion, grown bolder? Or have ballooning deficits forced their hand? Remember, in the 90s, most Canadian governments cut their way out of recession – so why tax their way out this time?

I don’t have the answer, but seeing the reaction to these proposals will put to the test the old theory that raising taxes is electoral suicide.