I hate that this is becoming the norm these days. This is obviously a gift because of the upcoming elections. Anyone making 149 999 per year doesn't need an extra 250$. This is very clearly meant to be able to gift it to as many people as possible. I really hope the other candidates hammer on this electorialist measure during the debates. Plus considering the finances of the country this really doesn't make any sense. Like sure the country is under massive dept let's just send out money and cut revenue for 2 months
Our politicians tried promises, but weren't very good at keeping them.
As we just saw in the US, people rationalized the most messed up stuff ever, because they were struggling with making ends meet. So at least we can possibly avoid that, even if there still a mix of rational and irrational animosity against Trudeau.
Sorry if this sounds blunt but if you need 250$ while making >= 150 000$ then there must be a serious money leak in your budget. 250$ in a year should be really easy to recover if you absolutely need it. Cancelling a subscription like Netflix, downgrading your phone plan, lowering the heating in the winter by a degree will all very likely result in > 250$ in savings per year. That's 20$ per month.
Groceries are unaffordable because nearly monopolistic businesses are increasing prices. And instead of investigating and enforcing heavy regulation of the distribution and sale of essentials in Canada to make groceries affordable we are going to remove taxes so that these businesses can keep their profit margin.
In principle, I agree with removal of a VAT; though, I would want it to be removed permanently (or, at least, permanently exempting more goods, eg food and other necessities) rather than temporarily. I personally see little benefit to the citizen from a VAT. The only real positive, and it's really quite a low bar imo, is that it can help account for tax-loopholes [1].
The roll out of this announcement was very poorly done, imo. It seems that the federal government didn't consult with any of the premiers beforehand (many of whom are now complaining, and rightly so, imo, of lost revenues due to the HST) [2]. And it seems to be causing more of a headache to shop owners [3][4] which may offset any possible increase in profits over such a short period.
I disagree with the $250 payout. While I think that it will help some people in the short term, it is far from an actual solution, and only serves to increase Canada's national debt — this is likely also compounded by the fact that Canada is temporarily lowering its tax revenue.
§"Advantages and Disadvantages of Vats". §"Advantages".
A VAT Closes Tax Loopholes: Proponents argue that a VAT would not only greatly simplify the complex federal tax code and increase the efficiency of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) but also make it much more difficult to avoid paying taxes. A VAT would collect revenue on all goods sold in the United States, including online purchases.
"Trudeau’s GST holiday gets mixed response from provinces". "CBC News: The National". YouTube. Published: 2024-11-22. Accessed: 2024-11-26T00:13Z. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2XLo-JpiUg.
"Businesses, residents in Ottawa provided mixed reactions to Trudeau's GST tax relief". CTV News. YouTube. Published: 2024-11-23. Accessed: 2024-11-26T00:20Z. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIZKYb45XVM.
"Trudeau's GST tax break may cause more work than it's worth, says shop owner". CTV News. YouTube. Published: 2024-11-22. Accessed: 2024-11-26T00:20Z. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKWSMkmA8io.