Thoughts on BC Politics and More

  The expanded GST credit offers short-term relief but not lasting food affordability   Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is trying to fix food affordability with cheques instead of structural reform. This week’s announcement of a rebranded Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit may put cash in consumers’ pockets but it sidesteps the policies that actually drive grocery prices, including taxes, supply chain costs and regulatory creep. Carney boosted the GST credit, an income-tested, quarterly cash benefit that is not tied to specific purchases, by 25 per cent for five years, with a one-time 50 per cent top-up. For a family of four, that could amount to as much as $1,890 this year. Nearly 12 million Canadians will be affected. On the surface, it is hard to argue against any measure that puts money directly into the hands of families struggling to keep up with food prices. According to projections in Canada’s Food Price Report 2026, this benefit actually exceeds the e...

Liberal leader candidate Chrystia Freeland released her campaign platform on Tuesday, based on saving money for Canadians.  She said that she would cut taxes on income and new housing, cap credit card interest rates, tackle rising grocery costs and build more child care spaces. Freeland said she would cut taxes for middle-class Canadians and in her first year as prime minister she would cut the second income tax bracket rate from 20.5 per cent to 19 per cent, saving Canadians $550 per year, or $1,100 for a couple. She plans to eliminate the GST on new homes for first-time buyers and remove the federal tax on new homes worth up to $1.5 million for first-time buyers. Freeland said she will cap credit card interest rates at 15 per cent and work towards a 10 per cent cap ... CLICK HERE for the full story

BC quarterly carbon-tax credit is combined with federal GST rebate | BC Family Benefit already in place “Eligible people will get some help with their holiday bills with benefits and credits arriving in the new year,” says the BC finance ministry in a news release today. Neither of the credits is new — and neither is targeted or earmarked in any way to “help with holiday bills”. But the BC government is promoting them ahead of the new year as a way to remind low-to-middle income residents about the ongoing supports that the BC NDP government facilitates ... CLICK HERE for the full story

David Eby and Brenda Bailey are touting temporary cost-of-living relief while families are facing more, permanent, carbon tax pain in just three months" ~~ Peter Milobar, MLA – Kamloops Centre, Finance Critic of the Official Opposition Yesterday’s cost-of-living announcement by British Columbia NDP finance minister Brenda Bailey is no more than a shell game designed to distract families from the big carbon tax increase coming on April 1st, according to the Conservative official opposition. “ It’s ironic that Brenda Bailey is touting a temporary boost in the BC Family Benefit that runs out next June, when she’s planning another permanent hike in the carbon tax on April 1 st ,” said Peter Milobar, MLA – Kamloops Centre, Conservative finance critic. “ And she didn’t say a word about the $1,000 per household in ‘immediate’ tax relief that David Eby promised during the election campaign .” “ It’s tough to see how the NDP are serious about the cost of living, when they plan ...

Retailers and consumers blindsided by Ottawa’s chaotic GST/HST tax break rollout ~~ Sylvain Charlebois T’was the week before Christmas, and all through the malls, many creatures were stirring ... Consumers and retailers are scrambling to understand the GST/HST holiday chaos. With Bill C-78 granting Canadians a temporary tax reprieve receiving royal assent mere days before its implementation on Dec. 14, businesses were faced with an almost impossible task: recoding systems during the busiest shopping season of the year. While some major food retailers had anticipated the bill’s passage and prepared in advance, others were caught off guard or distanced themselves entirely from the initiative. What was supposed to bring holiday cheer has instead become a tax policy nightmare. The confusion started early. On Dec. 10, PepsiCo announced it would not participate, informing its partners – Loblaw, Sobeys, and Metro – that it would continue charging taxes due to the complexity of its systems. Pe...

... While the tax break could help a family that is living paycheque-to-paycheque save an extra $50 to $100, it’ll likely be on purchases they already need to make, Hesketh said. “They’re going to spend because they don’t really have a choice — they’re just getting by,” she said. It remains to be seen whether businesses will promote the tax break as a way of saving money on their goods and services, she said. “If you’re somebody who buys a print newspaper, you’re probably somebody who buys that anyway — I don’t know that the impact here is going to be on a specific product,” she said. “People who can afford to go to restaurants, they’re going anyway" ... CLICK HERE for the full story

GST holiday slammed as a political gimmick that will backfire on Canada’s most vulnerable families By Sylvain Charlebois The GST holiday, set to begin on Dec. 14, is framed as relief for Canadians grappling with rising food prices. Yet economists specializing in food policy warn it may fail to deliver meaningful assistance and could even exacerbate challenges for consumers and the broader economy. Insights from the recently released 2025 Canada’s Food Price Report, a collaborative effort by researchers at Dalhousie University, the University of Guelph, the University of Saskatchewan, and the University of British Columbia, reveal why this policy might backfire. The report anticipates food price increases of three to five per cent in the coming year, with some categories, like meat, potentially rising as much as six per cent and vegetables by five per cent. These escalating costs are occurring against a backdrop of record food insecurity, which affects more than 22.9 per cent of Canadia...

It appears contradictory to promote a temporary GST exemption on candy, while opposing a policy that would make new housing more affordable. We are just days away from December 14, 2024—the day when the Trudeau Liberals' temporary expansion of select GST-exempt items is scheduled to take effect. I mention this because Bill C-78, which enables the temporary expansion of GST-exempt items from December 14 to February 14, still needs to pass in the Canadian Senate. Does this mean the GST “holiday” will be delayed? While technically this is possible, despite the Prime Minister’s claims to have appointed “independent” Senators, I expect this Bill to be passed and to receive royal assent in time to meet the Liberal governments politically selected timeline. Regarding GST exemptions, the House voted this week on the Conservative plan to permanently exempt new homes under $1 million from GST. This tax policy would save Canadians up to $50,000 on the price of a new home and...

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...

The Prime Minister’s proposed GST holiday and $250 rebate scheme, initially estimated at $6.2 billion, is yet another calculated ploy to distract Canadians from the ethical failures of his government. Though the rebate portion was abandoned in Parliament, the GST holiday remains a superficial gesture in a government-induced affordability crisis. This tactic highlights the government's willingness to appear generous (with our money) while burdening taxpayers with increased debt to mask corruption and maintain power ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Image BC Housing It has taken awhile, but finally a Canadian politician has suggested a partial step to end housing as an endless, federal government cash machine. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to eliminate the GST on new homes sold for under $1 million if his party wins the next federal election. The significant saving on a $950,000 home would be $47,500 GST – a tax that’s supposed to be a consumption tax, not a tax on land and new homes for Canadians. When the GST was introduced in 1991, it was accompanied by a GST New Home Rebate, including a promise to index the rebate to inflation, which never happened. The rebate on new homes priced up to $450,000 has become virtually non-existent where the average price of a home in BC is $948,266 ... CLICK HERE for the full story

... “We now have the federal government saying they’re going to cut GST. Other provinces are cutting their provincial taxes. Why aren’t we doing the same? This is something that we could be having in the legislature and debating,” he said ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday a suite of new measures meant to alleviate some of the affordability pressures people have been experiencing in the post-COVID era — including a two-month GST holiday on some goods and services. The Liberal government will also send $250 cheques to the 18.7 million people in Canada who worked in 2023 and earned $150,000 or less. Those cheques, which the government is calling the "Working Canadians Rebate," will arrive sometime in "early spring 2025," Trudeau said ... CLICK HERE for the full story

New tax measures, and changes to existing ones, will begin affecting Canadians in 2024. But tax experts say the effects on most individuals are likely to be minor, unless they're high-income earners. GST/HST exemptions, the elimination of deductions for some short term rentals, new alternative minimum tax rates and changes to Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions are among the new measures coming in 2024 ... CLICK HERE for the full story

  In recent months, there have been a number of renewed calls for the Government of Canada to remove its Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the cost of building secured purpose-built rental housing.   Advocates calling for the move assert it would have a meaningful impact on the financial viability of building much-needed rental housing, enough to push projects across the line into the realm of viability amidst the highly challenging market and inflationary conditions ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Hello again friends … it’s Day Seven, and that means a look back at the commentaries and opinions on political, social and economic issues that came up during this past week. Let’s get underway right off with commentary number ten from John Feldsted; #10 … Whether the handgun is used to commit crimes, aggression against a rival, or in defense of another gang or drug dealer , innocent bystanders are in jeopardy (August 12 th ) … our approach to people who possess illegal handguns or who have and use guns in the commission of a crime needs a serious overhaul. The spate of shootings in Toronto was caused by people. They were settling scores or in disputes over criminal territory … #9 … I am looking straight at Canadians and being honest the way I always have ... we said we are committed to balanced budgets and we are ... and we will balance that budget in 2019 ~~ Justin Trudeau in 2015 (August 13 th )   … a recent study by the ...