Trudeau stares down Poilievre for the first time since CPC leadership

Article content material

On a day when Canada’s hockey heroes from the 1972 Summit Sequence got here to the Home of Commons to be honoured, there was a mini-political summit of kinds. Thursday was the primary time that Pierre Poilievre squared off towards Justin Trudeau in Query Interval since profitable the Conservative management.

Article content material

As he has for the remainder of the week, Poilievre pressed the Trudeau Liberals on their plans to hike payroll taxes on Jan. 1 and the carbon tax on April 1. In the beginning of 2023, the premiums that staff and employers pay for employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension Plan will each go up whereas the federal carbon tax will leap three months later.

Article content material

“Doesn’t he perceive that now could be the worst time to boost taxes?” Poilievre requested.

He spoke of meals inflation being at a 40-year excessive, of scholars needing to stay in homeless shelters in Toronto as a result of they’ll’t afford hire and the 80% hike in residence heating prices in rural Newfoundland that Liberal Premier Andrew Furey wrote to Trudeau about.

Trudeau rejected the concept that he would cancel going ahead with both tax hike, actually, the Liberals reject the concept that taxes are going up or that if they’re that it’s a foul factor. They see the carbon tax, which is able to rise each single 12 months, as a virtuous factor, one thing they suppose we must always all be completely satisfied to pay.

Article content material

As for EI and CPP premiums, they view these not as payroll taxes — which they definitely are — however as a charge for a worthwhile service. Relying in your perspective, that might be stated about each single tax, it’s a charge for a service however it doesn’t imply it’s not going up.

Set as much as an ongoing battle

The 2 males traded stats with Trudeau stating the EI premium fee was larger below the Conservatives whereas Poilievre declaring that the common employee incomes $60,000 is paying about $700 extra in payroll taxes per 12 months than when Trudeau took workplace. That’s along with what they’re paying within the carbon tax or what they’re paying for the additional GST which is charged on prime of the carbon tax that’s now utilized to the gasoline and residential heating that they pay for.

Article content material

“Heating your property in January and February in Canada shouldn’t be a luxurious and it simply doesn’t make these Canadians polluters, they’re simply attempting to outlive,” Poilievre stated.

He went on to level out that Trudeau has created a much bigger carbon footprint with one month of his jet gas consumption than 20 common Canadian undergo in a 12 months. To Trudeau although, we must be completely satisfied to pay the carbon tax — and his carbon tax. He even continues to falsely declare that the majority households get again greater than they pay despite the fact that the Parliamentary Finances Workplace says that isn’t true.

Article content material

To Trudeau, any enhance in taxes that common folks pay is offset by his repeated assertion that he’s making the “wealthiest 1%” pay their fair proportion. What Trudeau gained’t let you know and what most within the media gained’t report on is that this hasn’t labored.

In truth, between 2015 and 2019, Statistics Canada exhibits that the proportion of whole revenue tax paid by the 1% of prime revenue earners dropped from 22.2% to 21.5%.

Trudeau and his Liberal authorities are attempting to assert that they’re serving to actual Canadians with actual issues. When the primary concern is the price of residing, the dearth of affordability, elevating a number of taxes in a time of excessive inflation appears tone deaf.

In his first week, Poilievre might have picked a winner of a problem, one that might see the Trudeau authorities backpedaling in coming months.