QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Capital Gains Inclusion Rate
June 12, 2024
Senator Gold, the Trudeau government says its latest job-killing tax is aimed at the wealthiest Canadians. In fact, over the last nine years, it’s well-connected Liberals who have done well for themselves while everyday Canadians have suffered.
Most recently, we have the Auditor General’s report — it’s not from me but the Auditor General — showing Liberal insiders at McKinsey and the green slush fund enrich themselves with shady contracts paid for by taxpayers.
Of course, all of this is overseen by the Prime Minister, whose last Christmas vacation cost more than three times the average annual income for Canadians. Speaking of that, it’s reported that the Trudeau government will spend millions in taxpayers’ money to buy property co-owned by the PM’s childhood friend Tom Pitfield, who, along with his wife — Anna Gainey, former Liberal Party president and now, lo and behold, an MP — vacationed on “Billionaire Island” with Prime Minister Trudeau.
Senator Gold, what are the chances of the sale of this property closing before June 25 to avoid the higher tax rate? Who is supporting the multimillionaires here, Senator Gold?
Try as you may, Senator Housakos, I’m not going to bite.
You started by asking a legitimate question about the change in the inclusion rate for the capital gains tax. You toggled immediately to allegations of insiders and so on. First, I simply have no knowledge about the property or when it will be sold. However, I can say and will repeat that the change in the inclusion rate for the capital gains tax is a responsible, focused measure to ensure a greater degree of fairness for those in our tax system. It is not a job killer, a rent killer or anything else of the sort. It is a very modest change that only returns the inclusion level to what it was before, and we seemed to do fairly well when it was at that level.
Senator Gold, we’ve faced historic inflation over the last decade under the watch of the Trudeau government. That means people who have things are becoming wealthier because things are becoming overly appreciated. That means the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
It’s very disingenuous that the Auditor General — an officer of Parliament appointed by your government — has discovered impropriety and your government refuses to send that information to the RCMP so that Liberal insiders can be investigated. Why?
It is irresponsible to assume that improprieties — as you’ve described them — are necessarily criminal acts. I am simply asserting — contrary to your assertions — that it is irresponsible to indulge in these kinds of claims and innuendos.
