You can contact our office at Kelly.McCauley@parl.gc.ca or by telephone at 780-392-2515.

Tax Breaks for Who?

Remember just a few weeks back when the Trudeau Liberals stunned Canadians by giving $12 million dollars to the super-wealthy owners of Loblaws and Superstore to buy new fridges?  Well, they’re at it again.

In another example of how stunningly out-of-touch the Ottawa Liberals are, Budget 2019 has saddled Canadians with a cost-hiking carbon tax all the while giving subsidies to the wealthy to buy electric vehicles – that are made in the US. Yes, taxpayer dollars to subsidize the well-off and create jobs in the US.

Currently, the average cost of the most popular electric vehicles in Canada (the Chevy Bolt and the Nissan Leaf) is around $42,000 and up for a basic model. Add on tax and you’re at around $45,000. The Liberals are proposing to give a $5,000 subsidy – leaving a net $40,000 purchase (or about a $900 a month car loan). Tesla has announced it will offer a barebones Tesla as well priced at $44,995 to ensure their purchasers can access your tax dollars as well. Oh, in case you weren’t aware, Elon Musk – owner of Tesla, is worth over $25 Billion. So the Trudeau Liberals are using your tax dollars to create jobs in the US in support of the 80th richest person in the world. 

The issue isn’t about the value comparison for buying electric or sticking with the status quo – or whether having a few more EV’s on the road will help the environment.

The issue is the average Canadian simply doesn’t have $40,000 laying around to upgrade their family vehicle. Nor are they able to re-mortgage their house to buy an electric vehicle as the BC Green Party leaders suggests. The government’s taxpayers’ funded gift for the well off for electric vehicles doesn’t benefit the average Canadian. It helps the wealthy. And with the launch of the Ottawa Liberals’ carbon tax, it’s becoming even harder for middle-class taxpayers to make ends meet.

The Liberals claim their carbon tax will put more money in the pockets of Canadian taxpayers – and that it will be revenue neutral. They conveniently forgot to mention they’ll pocket the GST that they’re applying on the carbon tax. They also don’t mention the fact that companies will simply pass on the carbon tax to consumers –  making everything from food to clothing more expensive. Nor do they mention the carbon tax will make everything we produce less competitive and cost us jobs.

This is yet another way that the Liberals have misled Canadians. As I’ve said, again and again, if their reliance on policy mechanisms like electric vehicle subsidies and carbon taxes were really an environmental plan, they would include the biggest emitters to share the biggest burden. They haven’t done that. Rather, they’ve opted to increase the cost of living for people across the country, hiked the cost of food, and hiked the cost of energy and gas bills. Real action needs real change, and we have yet to see real change.