QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Temporary Tax Measures
November 28, 2024
Leader, the government has introduced Bill C-78 on the GST holiday. There will be a tax break on Christmas trees, but not ornaments, on children’s clothing, but not size XL, on diapers for babies, but not those for seniors, on printed newspapers, but not the digital versions, on a $500 bottle of wine, but not a $30 bottle of gin, on physical video games, but not the digital version. Leader, who came up with this list? What were the objective criteria for making these choices? Don’t you think that this sounds like a plan that was drawn up on the back of a napkin?
Thank you for the question.
Regarding the details of the bill, I hope the Senate will give the committee enough time to study it properly.
As you know, there will be a vote on this bill in the House this evening.
The government had to draft the bill in such a way as to make sure this support for many Canadian families is not unlimited, not only in terms of duration, because this is meant to help families over the holidays, but in other ways as well. The government therefore had to decide which products would and would not be included. It was a pragmatic decision to help families that need help.
Here’s what Pablo Rodriguez, who was a minister in your government until recently, wrote about this measure: “These measures offer nothing of substance and are likely to have a minimal impact at an extremely high cost.”
That’s not a Conservative comment, leader; it’s from an MP who was in cabinet just a few weeks ago. Maybe you can help poor Mr. Rodriguez by telling us how a 5% discount on a bag of chips or a Christmas tree is something of substance?
These measures are intended to help families with children who are in need of some joy over the festive season. The government decided to give families a little help over the holidays.
