There is something indecent in Justin Trudeau’s announcement last week. A series of measures so poorly thought out that they risk doing more harm than good.
This sudden withdrawal of the GST, zero-rating a long list of goods on Christmas Eve, demonstrates despair and a profound misunderstanding of our expectations of the Head of State.
Generosity with variable geometry consists of $250 checks, reserved for “workers”, further widening the gap with the eight million retirees in Canada, who will not be entitled to this sudden “generosity”.
We would have liked to imagine a more cynical and more unfair pre-electoral policy, we could not have known how to do better.
A bulldozer to unload a geranium
We understand that many Canadians are rejoicing; saving 5%, for some households, is not nothing, as Christmas approaches. This will help end one of the most stressful months of the year for less fortunate families. Maybe buy one more little gift. To have, as some restaurateurs have mentioned, a little extra coffee at the end of the meal.
The question is not whether some will benefit; it’s obvious.
The problem is that some will benefit more than others. Moreover, the temporary elimination of the GST is a real gift for the rich.
We can easily imagine a cardiologist, whose average salary in 2023 was $524,763, who will be able to take the opportunity to buy a second PlayStation 5 at $650 for the chalet. The president of a large accounting firm will invite a client to a large restaurant and will be able to save $50 on her $1,000 lunch. A Westmount family will be able to offer each of their three children a LEGO Star Wars set at a unit price of $1,049.99 and obtain a tax holiday.
Temporary tax reduction is nothing less than a public policy developed on a table napkin, with all the cynicism that such a basely electoral maneuver implies. “Poorly targeted measures, which will be ineffective in helping households,” wrote Option Consommateurs, although it is generally in favor of such measures.
Indecency is missing the target so much. Helping the least fortunate families with $5, at the cost of millions of dollars in gifts for the rich, who consume, in dollars, much more. Families earning $300,000 will be entitled to two checks of $250. So let’s see.
A chicken with no head
We must remember from this new liberal improvisation the total absence of economic vision which emanates from this dying government. Several times in recent months, Justin Trudeau has stood out by demonstrating staggering economic myopia.
Changing the rules on capital gains, imposing tariffs on the import of Chinese vehicles, and now, on Christmas Eve, an impromptu, poorly crafted announcement, unveiled in a hurry, with the risk of creating headaches and immense confusion for retailers. A fiscally regressive measure, which will benefit the rich much more than the poor.
Each time, these measures come out of nowhere, are communicated with a few weeks’ notice and change the rules of the economic game. This is, I repeat, the worst way to govern a developed economy like ours.
There is no doubt that Canadians are overtaxed. But a government that adds $6.4 billion to its debt under the pretext that it is a “Christmas present” is either cynical or completely out of touch. I don’t know which of these two options is worse.
