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It would have been a very different story if Robin Hood had stolen from the rich to pay the interest charges on his credit card and schmooze corporate bigwigs.
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That’s the story Canadians are watching play out now.
The Trudeau government is stealing from upper, middle- and lower-income Canadians and giving the money to bond fund managers and multinational corporations.
It’s like Robin Hood was a chronic shop-a-holic.
And as with any compulsive spender, giving this government more money will only encourage more bad spending decisions until it inevitably comes back looking for more.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s newest-found loot comes from his budget’s capital gains tax hike. Trudeau claims the hike is about “improving tax fairness.”
But if this was really about realigning the tax system, then someone’s taxes would be going down. But for most Canadians, taxes are going up.
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Only two weeks before the budget, Trudeau hiked carbon and alcohol taxes. Trudeau’s carbon tax now costs the average family up to $911 more than they get back in rebates, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. This year’s alcohol tax hike will cost taxpayers $40 million.
The feds just hiked payroll taxes again. For someone making $73,200 or more, federal payroll taxes will cost them $5,104 – a $347 tax hike this year.
The capital gains tax hike has nothing to do with “fairness.” Andit’s not about fiscal responsibility, either.
The government expects to collect $6.9 billion from the capital gains tax hike this year. But even with the tax hike, Trudeau is running a $40-billion deficit. And with the feds spending $535 billion this year, Trudeau will blow through the extra cash in less than five days.
This government continues to prove it couldn’t care less about balancing the budget.
Trudeau first told Canadians he’d balance the budget in 2019. He broke that promise and ran a $20-billion deficit that year, even before the pandemic.
Then Trudeau told Canadians we could expect a balanced budget in 2027. He now plans to run a $27-billion deficit in 2027.
It’s clear Trudeau isn’t using the capital gains tax hike to balance the budget, because he doesn’t care about balanced budgets.
So, if it’s not about fairness and not about fiscal responsibility, then what is the real purpose of Trudeau’s capital gains tax hike?
It’s about politics. Trudeau is using the capital gains tax hike as a political wedge to try to convince voters he’s soaking the rich.But in reality, much of his borrowing showers the rich with more money.
With interest charges totalling more than $1 billion every week, Trudeau is giving more money to the bond fund managers than he’s sending to the provinces in health-care transfers.
Trudeau announced $27 billion for multinational corporations Volkswagen, Stellantis and Northvolt. He also announced $12 million for Loblaw, $420 million for Algoma Steel, $463 millionfor Irving Shipbuilding, $110 million for Toyota, $295 millionfor the Ford Motor Company and $372 million for Bombardier, among other corporate handouts.
The capital gains tax hike won’t make life better for Canadians. It won’t make life more affordable. It won’t fix the government’s finances.
It will encourage entrepreneurs to leave Canada and take jobs and tax revenues with them. It will make it harder for Canada to retain talent, like doctors. And it could make homes more expensive by making people decide not to sell their properties and making developers decide not to invest their capital in Canada.
Most importantly, like giving more money to a compulsive shopper, the additional tax revenue will encourage Trudeau to blow more taxpayer cash. And Canadians should worry aboutmore tax hikes from this government targeting more and more taxpayers.
Canadians – regardless of income – shouldn’t let the Trudeau government get away with any new tax hikes. Trudeau doesn’t deserve a penny more.
Franco Terrazzano is the Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
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