Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is vowing to implement a “Taxpayer Protection Act” that would ban introducing new taxes or hiking existing ones save for a referendum.
“This is my plan for change,” Poilievre told supporters Tuesday in Vaughan, Ont.
However, such legislation could be repealed by a future government.
The Conservatives’ platform, unveiled earlier this week, also announced $34 billion in new spending while making $75 billion in tax cuts over the next four years, which it says will bolster economic growth.
The platform received an enthusiastic endorsement from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
“Poilievre promises Taxpayer Protection Law! No new taxes or tax hikes without a referendum. This is GREAT news for you,” wrote CTF federal director Franc Terrazzano in a post to X.
“This is bad news for big spending politicians and bureaucrats that want to hike your taxes and waste your money.”
According to the Conservatives, their spending would be offset by $56 billion in spending reductions over the same period.
The party said that over 40 per cent of these savings could come from simply cutting the government’s reliance on consultants and outsourcing other responsibilities, alleging those cuts alone would save $23 billion over four years.
“Whenever I spend money, I will think of it as my mother’s money – a retired teacher,” said Poilievre. “If she would not be happy with it coming out of her retirement funds, then I should not be happy spending it.”
Poilievre has not promised to balance the budget in his first term, with his platform projecting a $14.1 billion deficit by the 2028-29 fiscal year.
Among the spending cuts would be scrapping funding for the CBC while maintaining it for Radio-Canada’s French-language programming.
Additionally, the Conservatives would cut foreign aid, beginning with $1.3 billion in cuts for the 2025-26 fiscal year before increasing it to $2.8 billion by 2028-29.
Close to half of the spending measures proposed by the Conservatives would be for defence, pledging a hike in military expenditures equivalent to 2 per cent of Canada’s GDP by 2030.
This would allow for procurements of additional heavy-duty icebreakers and new submarines.
“The best way to help Canadians is by cutting taxes and leaving more money in their pockets,” Carson Binda, B.C. director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation responded to the announcement.
“Poilievre’s platform offers sweeping tax cuts to save Canadians money.”