The tax on tampons will end a lot sooner than anyone was expecting.

Tory MP Michelle Rempel tabled a motion in the House of Commons Thursday to exempt feminine hygiene products from the federal portion of the GST, beginning July 1.

“For me personally, whenever we have the opportunity to put more money in the pockets of Canadians, and certainly Canadian women, that’s a very good thing,” Rempel said.

After decades of campaigns to end the tax, the movement quickly gained cross-party support in the house with the aid of a cadre of female Conservative MPs.

“If there’s one thing there’s gender equality on in our caucus, it’s that everybody supports tax reductions for Canadians,” Rempel said.

The quest to end the tax on tampons gained attention earlier this year thanks to an online petition with more than 70,000 people calling for change.

Jill Piebiak, the organizer of the petition, said she was a bit surprised at how quickly the motion became law, and attributes it to the female Conservative MPs who put pressure on the government to act now, not later.

“We are ecstatic,” she said, noting that today is menstrual hygiene day.

“It’s so exciting to know that on July 1 these products will be more affordable for women.”

Earlier this month, the House of Commons unanimously passed a motion to call for an end to the tax, but it was not expected to be introduced until the next budget.

The motion was introduced by NDP MP Irene Mathyssen, who championed the cause in a 2013 private members bill.

“I feel great; it’s one of those unexpected little victories,” she said. “I thought we were going to have to struggle through the next four weeks trying to push the issue.”

Mathyssen attributed the speed of change to the popular petition as well as women in the Conservative caucus.

“When the women are angry, watch out,” she said.

The Canadian Press reported that several female MPs told their fellow Tories that the caucus better support the motion, or they’d boycott a vote on May 11.

“There’s a lot of hyperbole on the Hill,” Rempel said, insisting that the Tories only waited to make sure the tax cut wouldn’t interfere with their promise to balance the budget.

Removing the tax has been estimated to cost the government $33 million.

Mathyssen had inherited the bill from outgoing MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis, who had been pushing for an end to the tax in private members bills dating back to 2003.

Wasylycia-Leis has said that as a feminist and a politician, she felt compelled to push the issue forward.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“I saw it as a gender-based tax,” she said. “It was to me a discrimination against women.”

Rempel wouldn’t say that the tax was discriminatory, but said that putting tampons in the same category as other exempted necessities was a “no-brainer.”