Roundup: Renewing the tax change battle

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Those proposed tax changes around private corporations were big in the news again yesterday, given that Parliament had returned and there was a sense that the fight was about to begin in earnest, now that everyone was paying attention. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation hired a plane to fly a banner above Parliament Hill that read “No Small Biz Tax Hike,” never mind that the small business tax rate isn’t being raised and that the proposed changes aren’t going to affect the vast majority of small and medium-sized businesses. Before the fight got started in earnest during QP, the NDP tried to insert themselves into the debate by trying to insist that the government should instead be attacking the “tax cheats” who use offshore tax havens – which, it must be pointed out, are also using legal instruments and thus are not actually “tax cheats” either, which is language that doesn’t help anyone.

In the Law Times, I have a story on how some lawyers are angry with the Canadian Bar Association over their opposition to the proposed tax changes – something that garnered a fair bit of attention. Global tried to work out what some of those tax changes amount to in terms of how it benefits those able to use the current provisions (though their use of the term “loopholes” rankled some of the economists they quoted). Colby Cosh takes on the semantic warfare in the proposed tax change debate.

And then the Twitter battles were renewed in earnest as well. Lisa Raitt was back at it, but Andrew Coyne took on her points with particular aplomb to show why they didn’t have any particular logic or intenral consistency.

https://twitter.com/acoyne/status/909940527038164992

https://twitter.com/acoyne/status/909941619297746944

https://twitter.com/acoyne/status/909942564370952197

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau and Theresa May said they would put together a working group on a post-Brexit trade deal that would be based around CETA.
  • During his press conference with Theresa May, Trudeau said that Canada wouldn’t do business with Boeing while they’re “trying to sue us” (which they’re not really).
  • After QP yesterday, Justin Trudeau led off the tributes for Arnold Chan, the MP who died of cancer last week.
  • With Parliament back, here’s a look at questions that are sitting on the Order Paper.
  • The UK’s High Commissioner to Canada wants to start “preliminary talks” but definitely not negotiations (which are not allowed) for post-Brexit trade.
  • Catherine McKenna says that the US hasn’t offered up any clues as to what would keep them in the Paris Accord, now that the door has been left open.
  • The Heritage Committee’s study on Islamophobia has begun, based on M-103, and now I wonder how long before it turns into a complete gong show.
  • Andrew Scheer says that Senator Beyak is no longer on any committees but that she’s still in caucus (possibly to preserve the Conservative plurality in the Senate).
  • Here is an attempt to tease out where the actual policy differences lie between the four NDP leadership candidates.
  • Charlie Angus continues to make an issue about Jagmeet Singh not having a seat in Parliament, and says he may be open to pipelines with strict conditions.
  • John Geddes wonders if the NDP can renew themselves the way that Hamilton has (given that it’s where they held their big leadership showcase).
  • Avi Lewis says he sees a grassroots movement within the NDP toward the Leap Manifesto, and a growing activist base like the one that made Corbyn Labour leader.
  • Chantal Hébert weighs Jagmeet Singh’s chances at winning the NDP leadership.
  • Martin Patriquin pillories the toxic choice on offer in the NDP debate about accepting Quebec’s intolerance around religious garb or not.
  • Andrew Coyne is rebelling against the cameras in the Commons for how they have distorted debate, and wants reaction shots or no cameras at all.
  • Stephen Gordon looks at how upper-middle class parents have become a force that impedes social mobility.

Odds and ends:

Also from me in the Law Times is a look at how Ontario is changing its provincial court judge appointment process.

Still more from me in the Law Times is a look at whether the Competition Act can cope with the age of Big Data.

One thought on “Roundup: Renewing the tax change battle”

  1. I just watched Andrew Scheer on CBC this morning and I am more convinced than ever that he and his Party are just not ready to govern again. As one who got his T4’s, filled out the tax forms and paid my fair share of taxes without cheating,I am appalled that a politician who would aspire to be the leader of our Nation would advocate this behavior.
    I checked with our local food bank and asked the coordinator if she knew of any doctors who used it and that evoked the biggest guffaw I think I ever heard. Taxes yes, fair taxes, absolutely!
    I have no sympathy for folks who “run the seams” and that includes the conservatives.

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