As HST break on restaurant meals ends, owner of Fredericton diner tallies up [Video]

Saturday marks the end of the federal government’s two-month sales tax holiday, giving Canadians a break on the cost of some essential goods, including restaurant meals.

And while David Halfyard’s customers at The Cabin restaurant in Fredericton have been enjoying the 15 per cent discount, he’s not sure if it’s enough to actually change anyone’s habits. 

“Who doesn’t like getting a discount? People love it. As to whether they would stop coming out because it’s off, I don’t know,” he said.

Halfyard has already crunched the numbers and said his sales during the two-month window that started  Dec. 15 are down. But he’s still convinced the tax break helped. 

“I’m sure I gained a little bit of extra business because of it. How much, I couldn’t put a finger on it,” he said. 

“The world being what it is today, it’s hard to compare last year with this year. People …