Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended his Hail Mary plan to buy votes on Friday, claiming that he’ll “let the bankers worry about the economy.”
Trudeau laid out a plan on Thursday to “give Canadians a real break on everything they do,” by saying he’ll introduce a bill that will pause GST/HST on essential items like groceries and diapers for 60 days starting December 14.
One economist, Dalhousie professor Sylvain Charlebois (aka “The Food Professor”) has predicted this will result in about $25 savings for the average Canadian.
Moreover, come April, Trudeau plans to issue a one-time $250 rebate for working Canadians who earned less than $150k last year, right when the carbon tax is set to raise, which the majority of Canadians support lowering or abolishing altogether.
It remains to be seen what this 60-day pause will do to public-opinion polls, which reveal the majority of Canadians want the Prime Minister to step down before the next election, and have consistently shown for the past 15 months or so his Liberal Party trailing the Conservatives by 15-20 points.
According to Statscan, food is 35% more expensive since Trudeau took office in 2015.
