Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced that the Conservatives would vote against the Liberal-NDP plan to implement a two-month HST / GST break and hand out $250 checks to an estimated 18.7 million Canadians.
According to government releases, pausing the GST alone would cost the government $1.6 billion. Coupled with the price of the $250 Canadian Workers Rebates, $4.675 Billion, the plan will cost over $6.2 billion without including the HST break.
Trudeau said the plan was designed to help struggling Canadians during Christmas time.
During a press conference in Ottawa, Poilievre said that the handouts and tax breaks were an “inflationary trick” which would surge the cost of living and only worsen the “out of control” issues that plague Canada.
“This isn’t a tax cut. This is an inflationary, two-month temporary tax trick that will drive up the cost of living,” Poilievre said.
The Conservative leader noted that Sylvain Charlebois, a food distribution policy expert, indicated that the measure would make food even more expensive if “underlying structural issues in food supply chains” weren’t addressed. Charlebois said the $250 cheques would create excess demand and “inevitably” lead to inflation.
“That’s what happens when the government dumps a bunch of cash into the country without creating more of what cash buys. ” Poilievre said. “We need tax relief that actually encourages the economy to produce more of the stuff, cash buys, grow more food, build more homes and produce more energy.”
When asked why Poilievre, a champion of cutting taxes, could be against the tax break, he told reporters that his tax cuts, on the carbon tax for example, will “spark more production” by being targeted on industries to allow them to hire more workers, build more homes and produce more energy.
“Instead of creating cash, we’re going to create more of what cash buys and our purchasing power will go further,” he said.
When Trudeau was asked last week how he planned to pay for his proposed two-month tax break and rebate cheques, he and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said they could afford it because the economy was recovering and the rate of inflation had slowed.
“The reality is we have a weakened economy, a weakened border, a weakened military, and a severely weakened Prime Minister,” Poilievre said. “He’s desperate. He’s lost control, but he’s trying to hold on to power, and so he’s come up with an irresponsible and inflationist $6 billion tax trick that he will take away right before raising the carbon tax on heat, housing, groceries and gas in just a few months.”
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to True North’s request for comment.
The government’s proposal comes at a time when the incoming U.S. President Trump threatened a 25% tariff against Canada if it did not secure its borders and prevent illegal immigrants and drug smugglers from crossing into the U.S.
“Now is the worst possible time to spend $6 billion trying to save Justin Trudeau’s political skin, especially with the threats coming from the United States,” Poilievre said. “With our border in chaos, our economy collapsing, and everything is broken, we need real, responsible leadership from a strong, Smart Prime Minister who has the brains and backbone to put Canada first.”
The Liberal government expects the plan to pass with NDP support. NDP leaderJagmeet Singh took credit for the Liberal plan on X before the announcement.
The Bloc Quebecois has noted it would only support the plan if the Canadian Worker’s Rebate cheques were also given to seniors and are likely to vote against it with the Conservatives.