Various experts predict that the Trudeau Liberals will hike taxes even further following their recent spending announcement bonanza.
While Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland has promised she won’t hike taxes on the middle class, experts predict additional taxes targeting the upper class will have a knock-on effect, scaring away even more business from Canada, which is already suffering from a decline in productivity and stagnant wages.
“Let’s be honest. They have to raise taxes,” said chief capital market strategist and former Trudeau advisor James Thorne. “I don’t think that’s a big secret. But can they do it in a thoughtful, provocative way?
“If you do it on the high-income people, they’re just going to move their money offshore.”
As it stands, the Liberals have promised approximately $38 billion that they don’t have as part of various announcements, with many promises having been issued on a near-daily basis over the last few weeks as the Liberals go into damage-control mode.
Trudeau’s spending bonanza
For instance, two weeks ago, Trudeau announced the government would allocate $1 billion to municipalities for various infrastructure needs as part of his housing scheme, while another $5 billion would go to provinces. This was followed by a billion-dollar national school lunch program announcement, which was then followed by an announcement the fed would commit $2.4 billion to developing AI. This is all money the federal government does not have.
As stated by Business Council of Canada Senior VP Robert Asselin, “I’m pretty confident they will raise revenues because they’ve squeezed themselves on their fiscal situation, and they continue to commit to spending that is not sustainable.”
On Freeland’s promise to only tax the supposed rich, Asselin added, “The problem for them is either a surtax on big corporations or a wealth tax sounds very good, but in practice, they’re terrible. They don’t work.” Put simply, Trudeau’s attempt to save face is only going to cost Canadians even more amidst extreme economic hardships.
