DAN ALBAS -- Opposition parties cited several key concerns: the program would fail to help those most in need.
In my report last week, I discussed two recently announced proposals from the Trudeau Liberal government that responded to what the Finance Minister called a "vibecession" here in Canada. For context, a "vibecession" refers to a disconnect between a country's actual economic performance and the public's negative perception of it. Essentially, the Minister of Finance was arguing that it was Canadians sense of their quality of life that was the problem- not the economy. To counter these ‘bad vibes’, the Trudeau Government has proposed two programs. The first is a "GST Christmas Holiday"—a temporary expansion of GST-exempt items running from December 14, 2024, to February 15, 2025. The second program was a proposed "Working Canadians Rebate"—a $250 payment planned for early spring 2025. This rebate would go to 18.7 million Canadians who worked in 2023 and earned up to $150,000 in individual net income. This rebate was found...