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OTTAWA — A day after his government tabled a federal budget, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attacked Pierre Poilievre in a campaign-style broadside saying the Conservative leader’s vow to vote against the plan isn’t about opposition to record-high spending and ongoing deficits, but about protecting the wealthy from tax increases.
The Liberals unveiled their budget Tuesday, which includes billions in new spending and continues high deficits through the next five years, even adding more than $10 billion in extra red ink in the next five years over and above the government’s own deficit projections from the fall.
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On Tuesday, Poilievre described the budget as “wasteful” and said the growing debt was taking money away from Canadians’ real priorities.
“For the first time in a generation we are spending more on debt (interest) than on health care,” said Poilievre.
Trudeau spoke to his caucus Wednesday morning at a meeting resembling a campaign rally, with the prime minister reading prepared remarks from a teleprompter and several of his MPs standing behind him.
“This budget lays out a plan to make sure Canadians can build homes, build companies, build solutions, and make the best country in the world even better,” he said.
The budget also included a capital gains tax increase. The increase applies to profit from selling stock or secondary homes. The income is normally taxed at 50 per cent of its value but the change introduced Tuesday will levy taxes on 66.7 per cent of the profit for gains over $250,000 for individuals, trusts and corporations.
The government has also increased other lifetime exemptions for capital gains. The finance minister said she expects the measure to impact only a handful of taxpayers, 0.13 per cent of individuals and 12 per cent of corporations, although she expects it nevertheless to bring in $19 billion in new revenue.
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Trudeau said the tax hikes were to fund intergenerational fairness.
“We’re asking them to pay their fair share so that younger generations can have the same opportunities that gen-Xers, boomers and other generations had when they were starting their lives.”
He said if the Conservatives vote against the budget, as they have indicated they will do, it will be because they want to protect investors and businesses from higher taxes.
“They’re voting against fairness. They will be voting against asking the ultra rich to pay their share.”
Poilievre continued to criticize the budget during question period Wednesday, demanding to know who would pay for the new spending and growing deficits the Liberals revealed in Tuesday’s budget.
“Who pays for this latest $50 billion orgy of spending from this prime minister?”
Poilievre answered his own question and said it would be waiters and welders who would pay the cost of the government’s spending, arguing that wealthy Canadians would simply hide their money rather than pay the new taxes.
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The Conservative leader accused Trudeau of creating the current housing situation and said the Liberals were simply not learning from past mistakes.
“Now he is doubling down on the same costly mistakes that have made life unaffordable for Canadians, when will this prime minister realize that he is not worth the cost.”
The Bloc Québécois have already indicated they will not support the budget, as have the Green party. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has yet to say how his party will vote on the budget.
National Post
rtumilty@postmedia.com
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