QP: Boutique exemptions from capital gains changes

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The prime minister was absent for the second Wednesday in a row, off to the G7 meeting in Italy, but fortunately, his deputy was there today in his stead (not that she was going to answer all of the questions like he would). The PM’s absence meant that certain other leaders weren’t going to bother to show up, but Pierre Poilievre was there, and he led off in French, and he started off by calling out the Bloc for voting for the capital gains changes yesterday, and Chrystia Freeland said that this was about tax fairness for working people, and that this will unlock $3 billion for the province of Quebec in new revenue, while the Conservatives don’t like investments by the government. Poilievre insisted that this takes money away from doctors, forcing them to move elsewhere (not really true, and that’s the province’s responsibility to pay them properly), taking more swipes at the Bloc along the way. Freeland said that Quebeckers understand the importance of fairness, and that it’s important for a nurse not to pay higher taxes than the ultra-rich, and that they understand the government needs revenue to invest in healthcare. Poilievre switched to English to claim that Canada’s growth is the worst in the G7, and that housing costs have doubled, blaming the taxation of the federal government, and accused them of “taxing away” doctors, homebuilders and entrepreneurs. Freeland said that we all learned yesterday that the Conservatives chose a side, and it wasn’t the side of teachers or welders, and that they were always on the side of those at the very top. Poilievre insisted that the welders she mentions start small businesses and incorporate, and that this was going to tax them (not really true), which would also kill housing. Freeland suggested that they get things right, because this is about a two-thirds inclusion rate, not a two-thirds tax rate, and accused him of faking his support for workers. Poilievre insisted they were taxing farmers in a food crises, taxing home builders in a housing crisis, taxing away doctors in a healthcare crisis, and taxing small businesses in an economic growth crisis, and this was all economic vandalism. Freeland noted the average salary in Poilievre’s riding and that most couldn’t dream of making $250,000 per year, and yet he was standing with the ultra-rich.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and claimed that the capital gains increases would hurt Quebeckers, and proposed an amendments around home owners who were not speculators. Freeland thanked the Bloc for their vote, and recited her points about generational fairness. Therrien insisted that their concern was for the savings of self-employed people, and Freeland repeated the lines about fairness and funding investments, which would benefit Quebec to the tune of $3 billion.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and railed about the costs of rent (which is provincial jurisdiction) and demanded the government guarantee housing. Soraya Martinez Ferrada said that they were working with non-profits and municipalities to build more affordable housing. Bonita Zarrillo also accused the government of raising rents, and again Martinez Ferrada repeated her back-patting in English.

Round two, and Poilievre got back up to crow that the Bloc were now changing their position in the same tax, and believing himself clever, demanded a legislative guarantee it won’t affect the bottom 99.87 percent (Freeland: You keep demonstrating your economic illiteracy, but here is some praise by the IMF; Here are your own words about capital gains; You have already demonstrated you don’t understand how this works, and you are not on side of the working people in her riding; MacKinnon: For the past twenty years, you have been sulking around this place without much contact with the real world, and keep voting against measures to help people; Champagne: We will take no lessons), and then Poilievre demanded that not one single welder will face a tax increase (MacKinnon: You have never seen a single support for a single Canadian you will vote for).

Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay worried about another CBSA all facing delays (LeBlanc: We have delayed an aspect of the implementation to ensure it proceeds in the right way; I will ensure the Agency provides the committee with all requested documents).

Poilievre got up again, and demanded every plumber, carpenter, restaurant owner or farmer not be subject to additional taxes (Freeland: You evaded on this for weeks and can’t get the details right; You are not standing with people in your riding whose only income is their wage; Remember John Diefenbaker called a tax commission whose conclusion is that a buck is a buck?; You are squirming because you want to support those earning more than $250,000 in capital gains, not workers).

Taylor Bachrach worried about a simultaneous rail strike to force workers’ hands (O’Regan: We stand with the bargaining process and our officials are engaged), and Lori Idlout demanded the government do something about the victims of a predatory priest who escaped justice and has since died (Anandasangaree: We will work to support the families).

Round three saw yet more overwrought questions on the capital gains increase (Freeland: Here is another quote of yours in favour of taxing capital gains, but that was when you were pretending to be on the side of working people; You have been cosplaying as a friend of union workers, and now we have called your bluff; You keep showing you don’t understand how this works; You can’t wiggle out of the shocking position of taking the side of multi-millionaires against working people and against fairness; MacKinnon: Do you understand how capital gains works?;  I grew up the grandson of dairy farmers and around fishers, and let’s compare electricians; You keep voting against supports for these union members; Champagne: Fairness is at the heart of the Canadian identity). There were also questions on the supposed “religious exemption” for hate speech (Rodriguez: There is no form of hate this government has ever accepted), a hate-motivated arson in London (Khalid: We have been working to combat hate across Canada), and the sham that is the Canada Disability Benefit (Khera: Back-patting, but there is more to do).

Overall, it was a it of clown show, with both sides of the aisle riled up, though that may be because it’s caucus day, and we are well into “silly season” where MPs are starting to get punchy. Poilievre not only got the very basics around capital gains wrong in his questions, but spent the bulk of QP with this too-cute-by-half demands that the bill to implement this be amended to include particular guarantees about who would’t be affected, because again, he doesn’t understand how capital gains works, and he believed a bunch of overblown stories in the media that also don’t understand how capital gains works, and he relied on a bunch of nonsense that economist Jack Mintz said, even though credible economists will only roll their eyes at anything Mintz says because he has only one single message track (which is to cut taxes, regardless of whatever the issue is). And once Poiliievre made these cartoonish demands over and over again, his final question of the day was a culmination scripted for maximum clip impact where he declared the government said no to protecting doctors, carpenters, and so on. I will note that Freeland did get a few good shots in about the fact that Poilievre got his understanding of the whole capital gains concept wrong, and that he has outed himself as cosplaying his support for working people, and was generally better today than her repetitive rhyming taunts yesterday.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Dominique Vien for a black suit over a white collared top, and Iqwinder Gaheer for a well-cut navy suit with a white shirt and a pink turban and tie. Style citations go out to Mike Kelloway for a terra cotta-coloured suit with a white shirt and blue-grey tie, and to Soraya Martinez Ferrada for a long-sleeved button-up black top with blue  white florals over a black slacks.