Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s political playbook is once again in full display as he targets the wealthy in a bid to win over the lower-middle class and young people.

His recently announced capital gains tax hike has led to doctors threatening to leave Canada, which would make Canada’s healthcare shortages even worse.

Asked for his response to this possibility, Trudeau said that Canada isn’t a country where only “wealthy people” succeed. 

“That’s not how it works. That’s certainly not how it works in Canada,” he said. 

“So yes, we’re asking those who have, for whom the system has worked very well, who have done well over these past years to recognize that investing right now in the success of young people, it’s not just a nice thing to do, it’s essential to do.”

The Prime Minister went on to say that “a number of experts” have said that “there are simple tweaks they can make to ensure that they still have very good pensions when they retire.”

As for the risk of losing investments and entrepreneurs from his increased tax on success, Trudeau said the investments and changes around taxation “is actually about incentivizing and rewarding those people who are investing in startups and creating more innovation and more opportunities.”

Liberals plan to replace Canadian doctors who leave over capital gains tax with foreign ones

The Liberal’s Minister of Small Business, Richie Valdez, said earlier this week that her government will expedite the process of foreign credential recognition to mitigate the damage from Canadian doctors leaving over the new capital gains tax inclusion hike.

The statement was made by Valdez, the Minister of Small Business, after CBC’s David Cochrane brought up the fact that many Canadian doctors incorporate their practice for tax advantages and that these family doctors rely on capital gains for their retirement. He added that Canada has already been struggling with keeping its doctors, many of whom leave for greener pastures in the US.

In response to this, Valdez said, “We recognize that, but one of the things that we will continue to do is encourage foreign credential recognition to help with—we know that coming out of the pandemic, our healthcare has really been hampered, and there’s a really challenge with labour.”