The Conservatives have proposed a complete taxation review — it's about time
Taxation policy is critically important since it intersects with the economic and social policies of the government, with the raised funds supporting programs such as social safety nets, pensions and income re-distribution, as well as critical infrastructure.
Politicians often use tax policy to advance their agendas by pulling various levers like changing taxation rates, adjusting how taxable income is calculated and introducing new taxes. Balancing taxation, economic and political policies is very tricky. I call it the Goldilocks Principle, or getting it just right (yes, I know, that phrase is used in a lot of other disciplines too).
The current federal government has failed miserably with the Goldilocks Principle as it relates to taxation policy for a number of years. From raising tax rates on so-called high-income earners, relentlessly going after small businesses, introducing flawed amendments to the Alternative Minimum Tax and now the capital gains inclusion rate increase.
The government has been pouring lots of time and energy into its messaging about the capital gains measure by saying it only applies to 0.13 per cent of people (a ridiculous and misleading falsehood) and that it is necessary for “fairness” (an overused phrase to justify its need to raise tax revenues to cover its ever-increasing spending), as well as comparing the taxation rate of a nurse to that of an investment banker, who apparently only earns capital gains and stock options, which, of course, isn’t true.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland also continues to use class-warfare messages to suggest the measure was necessary. Her social media account as well as those of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and many other people friendly with the Prime
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