Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is taking issue after Prime Minister Mark Carney copied a federal sales tax exemption first introduced by the Conservatives last year.
On Thursday, Carney announced that his government would move to eliminate the GST on all homes up to $1 million for first-time home buyers.
However, Carney’s policy is identical to a Conservative party housing announcement Poilievre had made last year that was later voted down by the governing Liberals when introduced as an Opposition motion in the House of Commons.
“Only months ago, Liberals voted unanimously against my idea of taking the GST off new homes. Now—a few days before calling an election — they plagiarize me again,” said Poilievre. “Liberals will never do this policy. They are just trying to trick people into giving them a fourth term.”
Last fall, Poilievre announced that if he won the next election, a Conservative government would eliminate the federal sales tax on newly built homes sold under $1 million and urged provincial premiers to make the same exemption for provincial taxes.
“This is a significant step in fixing what has been broken and making homeownership more than just a dream for young Canadians again. But there’s more that can be done, and you can help,” Poilievre said to the premiers.
In Dec. 2024, Deputy Conservative Leader Melissa Lantsman tabled a motion urging the government to eliminate the GST on new homes under $1 million. While the Conservatives and NDP voted for the motion, the Liberals and Bloc Québécois opposed and defeated it.
In his first week as prime minister, Carney has pursued several policies and messaging that have mimicked the Conservatives.
On his first day in office, Carney announced that he would be lowering the consumer portion of the carbon tax to $0 per tonne, though the enabling legislation remains on the books.
In response, Poilievre announced that a Conservative government would scrap the industrial carbon tax also by repealing the entirety of the legislation.