Photo: Justin Tang The Canadian Press According to Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre's view of things, capital is already taxed and constantly eaten up by inflation, which makes him say “that adding new taxes [to capital] is unfair”.
The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, says he is guided by “common sense” in voting against increasing the capital gains inclusion rate, a measure intended to increase the tax for a handful of the wealthiest taxpayers.
“Why is it that every time he promises to raise taxes on the rich, it's the poor and the middle class who end up paying the bill ?,” the leader of the official opposition lamented in the Commons on Tuesday, referring to Justin Trudeau and his government.
< p>Pierre Poilievre will thus have kept the suspense until the last day concerning his position on one of the main new measures of the last federal budget, since all elected officials had to decide on the question during a vote, a little later Tuesday.
Since April, the Trudeau government has proposed increasing the tax on capital gains for those who declare the most. All capital gains previously benefited from a 50% tax exemption, but, starting June 25, this inclusion rate will increase to two dollars in three (66.7%) for capital gains individuals exceeding $250,000 in a year. Any capital gains made by businesses will also be subject to more tax.
Different exemptions apply, such as the sale of a principal residence, which remains tax-exempt. The details of the tax measure were clarified Monday in a “ways and means” motion tabled in the House, a lengthy 59-page technical document submitted to a vote on Tuesday.
Unsurprisingly, 208 MPs from the Liberal Party, the Bloc Québécois, the New Democratic Party (NDP) and the Green Party adopted the motion, which was rejected by 116 Conservative MPs as well as independents Alain Rayes and Kevin Vuong.
For the richest
According to calculations by the Ministry of Finance, the new measure makes no difference to 99.87% of taxpayers, or 31.5 million Canadians. It will result in an increase in tax paid by a tiny minority, i.e. 0.13% of taxpayers, or 40,000 people. These richest people report an average income of $1.4 million per year.
During Tuesday's question period, monopolized by this subject, the Conservatives united to denounce this increase, which they believe could have disproportionate repercussions on certain Canadians.
“The tax will eat up the inheritance. They will leave less for their children! » for example chanted in the chamber the conservative Quebec MP Pierre Paul-Hus.
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“We are jeopardizing the success of true intergenerational farm transfers to young farmers across Canada! […] How is this fair for future generations of farmers ?” also denounced his colleague Luc Berthold.
The Minister of Finance of Canada, Chrystia Freeland, replied that her government was also increasing the exemption for farmers. She argues that “Quebec also needs revenue, for example for health care.” The Quebec government is also increasing its taxation of capital gains.
“Unfair” to tax capital
Pierre Poilievre's office did not wish to specify at Devoirthe leader's position on this issue as recently as Monday. After a silence of several weeks, Mr. Poilievre detailed his opposition to the measure in a video of around fifteen minutes broadcast Tuesday on social networks.
We hear the Conservative leader cites the work of Scottish economist Adam Smith, who died in 1790, to explain what capital is, then revisits 20th-century history by asserting that “communists and fascists tried to oppose labor to capital.”
According to Mr. Poilievre's view of things, capital is already taxed and constantly eaten up by inflation, which makes him say “what 'adding new taxes [to capital] is unfair'. This will have the effect of driving away investments from Canada to the United States and generally harming Canada's productivity, he estimates.
Ms. Freeland reiterated Tuesday that the expenses associated with new government programs justify this tax increase, such as a program that must cover contraceptives and drugs to treat diabetes. “Canada could finance these essential investments by taking on more debt, but that would be an unfair burden on younger generations. »
The Parliamentary Budget Officer is currently working to verify the figures put forward by the Trudeau government on capital gains taxation. His report is expected this summer.