The narratives about “closing tax loopholes” never really die, and lo, they have come back yet again on the campaign, as Jagmeet Singh hopes to use this as a campaign plank, and to basically start extracting a dollar figure from them. The problem? Well, that’s basically misunderstanding the problem with these “loopholes” – they’re a game of whack-a-mole. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t tackle them, because you should, and successive governments have been doing that for decades, but as soon as you close one, the well-funded tax preparation industry finds another that they can exploit, and all of that money that a government may have been hoping to recoup doesn’t appear.

Can somebody ask which loopholes he proposes to close?
Just saying he’ll “close loopholes” is hand-waving. Governments close loopholes every single year. There is an industry devoted to finding new ones every time one closes. https://t.co/R1M89dkWAD

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) August 30, 2021

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1432361687361933312

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1432362354314993667

Additionally, Singh alleged that Justin Trudeau was somehow directing the CRA to not go after large corporations, and that he isn’t charging the “super rich” tax evaders. But again, this distorts reality – the CRA is an arm’s length agency from government, and free from political direction, and don’t direct audits or collection activities. Yes, the current government has provided more funds for CRA to undertake those activities, but they can’t tell them who to audit. Additionally, when CRA finds a file that they deem suspicious, they forward it to the RCMP, and if they feel that there is criminality, they forward it to the Public Prosecution Service – which, again, is arm’s length and not subject to political direction – and they decide whether or not to lay charges. Thus far, they have not with some of the high profile investigations into the Panama Papers, or other such leaks, likely because they know their chances of a successful prosecution are slim because these particular practices wind up being legal in the long run, no matter how often governments try to crack down on them. Regardless, Singh trying to portray this as either cronyism or a lack of political will is not reflective of reality.

The CRA is arm’s length from government and Cabinet cannot direct it to perform audits, just like Cabinet cannot direct the Public Prosecution Service to lay charges.
The CRA advanced a lot of tax files to the RCMP, who then sent them to the PPS, who declined to lay charges. pic.twitter.com/JpDJHxvgaw

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) August 30, 2021

Also not reflective of reality – some of the hand-waving he’s been doing in other interviews, such as this one where he says he’ll “get it done” on ending the deferral period for blood donations for men who have sex with men – never mind that Canadian Blood Services is arm’s length from government and not subject to their orders. You can’t Green Lantern your way through government. Implementation of your ideas matters – a lot.

There is a lot of hand-waving in this interview, but this is one of the hand-waviest answers. He was asked for specifics, which he refused to give. “Just getting it done” doesn’t address the fact that CBS is arm’s length from the federal government. https://t.co/MWurvZuTpY pic.twitter.com/MwNAmeqrWa

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) August 30, 2021

On the campaign trail:

• Justin Trudeau was in Granby, Quebec, to talk about protecting freshwater as well as other marine conservation areas.
• Trudeau then headed to Iqaluit to promise better housing and mental health supports for Indigenous peoples.
• Erin O’Toole was in King City, Ontario, to talk about banning puppy mills (which is likely an issue in provincial jurisdiction).
• O’Toole also said he wants to revive Northern Gateway (in spite of there being no economic case for it), and doubled down on returning to weaker GHG targets.
• When asked by the Conservative platform doesn’t mention racism or Islamophobia, O’Toole says it’s because he’s condemned them in the past. Erm, okay?
• Jagmeet Singh was in Ottawa to claim he would tax the ultra-wealthy, but offered no details as to exactly how that would happen.
• Xtra interviews Singh, and lo, gets a bunch of hand-wavey answers with no specifics.
• The Star fact-checks Singh’s statements over a week, but is overly generous in many of their assessments, and don’t properly contextualise some of his claims.
• The Canadian Press has their profile of Yves-François Blanchet.
• Here is a recap of the one-on-one interviews with each of the party leaders on Radio-Canada on Sunday night.
• Here is a look inside the groups organising the protests that are dogging the Liberal campaign.
• The Liberal candidate in Vancouver Granville has a record of flipping 21 houses since 2015, which the party’s platform seeks to tax (which he supports).
• The Conservative candidate in Dartmouth-Cole Harbour backed out after an allegation of sexual assault surfaced over Twitter.
• Three women are in the running for Nunavut’s seat in the House of Commons.
• Professor Lori Turnbull makes the point that if O’Toole continues to be seen to be having Cheryl Gallant’s back, it sends a message about what he’s willing to tolerate.
• Paul Wells muses about O’Toole’s terrible Sunday, and how the Liberals are faring in the values-versus-benefits calculation of elections.

Good reads:

• The Americans have now left Afghanistan entirely, leaving those trying to leave for Canada to consider a dangerous trek to the Pakistan border.
• Ontario’s plans for a vaccine passport have been delayed until Wednesday (maybe).

Odds and ends:

My latest Loonie Politics Quick Take recaps week two of the campaign.

For the CBA’s National Magazine, I delve into the government’s consultation on how they hope to tackle online harms.

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.