Posted at 5:00 am
(Ottawa) Canadian taxation penalizes labor, claims Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who is calling on the Trudeau government to correct this damaging situation for the economy beginning in the next budget.
According to Mr Poilievre, Canada’s tax authorities are far too greedy for workers accumulating hours to either improve their lot or simply make ends meet because of inflation, which continues to wreak havoc.
At a time when companies are struggling with labor shortages across the country, Treasury Secretary Chrystia Freeland urgently needs to shed some baggage by reducing the tax burden on taxpayers to reward hard work, he argues.
Ms. Freeland is currently working on her third budget since taking over as Treasury Secretary from Bill Morneau in August 2020. In principle, this budget must be submitted to the House of Commons by the end of March.
In an interview with La Presse before embarking on a trip that will take him to Montreal, Trois-Rivières and Quebec, the Conservative leader outlined his party’s key budgetary demands.
We need reform and a tax cut to encourage work.
Pierre Poilevre
We have a labor shortage in part because it is not worth working. Work no longer pays in Canada. When people make another dollar in salary, they overpay in taxes or see their benefits cut. The system as it is today penalizes work. We have to change that so that work pays more,” said the conservative chairman.
Mr. Poilievre cites as an example a Treasury Department report highlighting the case of a single mother of three who saw some of her benefits cut once she received a salary in excess of $60,000. “If this mom makes an extra dollar, she loses 80 cents of that dollar in taxes and reduced benefits. Nobody wants to work longer under these conditions. I often meet people who tell me, “I work harder. I even got a second job. But it doesn’t change anything and I haven’t improved my situation.” So we have to change that.”
Back to balance
According to Pierre Poilievre, Minister Freeland needs more than ever to clarify the timetable for returning to a balanced budget. Since Justin Trudeau’s Liberals came to power in 2015, they have multiplied their budgets written in red ink, running a record deficit of more than $320 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ottawa forecasts that the deficit will reach $36 billion in the current fiscal year, which ends March 31.
“We must counteract liberal inflation by eliminating the inflationary deficits that have been driving up the cost of living at the fastest rate in 40 years. Justin Trudeau doubled our national debt. He alone has increased the debt burden more than all other prime ministers combined since 1867,” he said.
Canadians can no longer afford Justin Trudeau’s expenses. I want him to reverse this inflationary policy.
Pierre Poilevre
In an interview, Mr Poilievre noted that former Treasury Secretary Bill Morneau agrees with him in a book about his years in politics, in which he claims the Trudeau government overspent during the pandemic.
“It’s interesting. I’ve been saying that for three years. Now he agrees, and the Bank of Canada governor also says that overspending was done during the pandemic. But we continue to overspend even after the pandemic is over .Spending during the pandemic was not fair to help people during the crisis.Payments were made to prisoners or the deceased,” he noted, citing examples from Auditor General Karen Hogan’s recent report.
In her report, the auditor estimates “that overpayments totaling $4.6 billion were made under the emergency programs that were put in place.”
“The waste under this administration is unprecedented,” the Conservative leader said.
“The most incredible thing is that Justin Trudeau managed to double our national debt without improving our healthcare system. After seven years of Justin Trudeau’s government, the health system is worse than ever. »
To avoid further increasing federal spending, Mr. Poilievre returns to the indictment with his suggestion that Ottawa must save a dollar for every dollar of new spending.