Taxation ONLY With Representation

By Damien Kurek
Battle River - Crowfoot MP

A fundamental aspect of our democratic system is that the Government can only tax its citizens and spend those tax dollars with Parliamentary approval. Since the Magna Carta was signed more than eight centuries ago and the growth of modern democracy in the Westminster system of Government we have today, this has been an essential element of democracy. Yet, we now find ourselves in a situation where the changes to the federal capital gains tax has never been voted on, but will be collected. I wish I could say I was surprised, but with the normalization of constitutional crises we have seen over the last nine years under Justin Trudeau and the NDP/Liberals, this is simply another Liberal attack on democracy.

In the 2024 Federal Budget, the Liberals announced they would increase the inclusion rate on capital gains in Canada. They did not, however, include this measure in any budget bill, and only tabled a motion to make the changes in the Fall. This motion has never been voted on but also has never been debated.

To note, the reason the motion did not get debated or voted on is because the entire Fall sitting of Parliament was consumed by debates on Liberal scandals. Now, with Parliament being prorogued, which is an insult to democracy in and of itself, the legislative agenda has been reset. This means the CRA is going to collect a tax that has not been voted on.

Common Sense Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been clear: Conservatives do not support this tax hike on job creators, will repeal it, and believe that it is unconstitutional to even collect it. This tax, which economists suggest could kill over 400,000 jobs and shrink our economy by 90 billion dollars, will have a disproportionate effect on small- and medium-sized business owners, farmers and ranchers, and interestingly, will have a huge impact on family doctors.

Poilievre didn't mince words when speaking about this in the context of the current Liberal Leadership race to replace Justin Trudeau: “Trudeau’s Chief Economic Advisor, Carbon Tax Carney, and former Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, were behind this job-killing tax increase. It is driving our economy into the ground, especially with President Trump’s tariff threats looming over us. This was a bad idea before, but now it's outright insanity.”

Let's not forget, after nine years of Liberal economic vandalism, our economy has suffered, and our standard of living has fallen. In fact, Texas, with 10 million fewer people, now boasts an economy larger than all of Canada's provinces and territories combined. And tax hikes like the capital gains hike and carbon tax brought in by the Liberals (with the support of the NDP), have made Canada poorer.

Canadians also need to be able to choose in an election whether they support policies like this. Conservatives have made it clear that we will permanently axe this job-killing increase, safeguarding our jobs and our dollars. Further, we will cut back on corporate welfare—those lavish subsidies handed out to big, politically connected corporations with nothing to show but waste. Think about it: $9 million for edible crickets, $400 million for the Green Slush Fund (for which the ethics commissioner confirmed lawbreaking deals), $50 million for Mastercard's office, and $20 billion in contracts.

I have listened to you. These tax hikes, like the carbon tax, need to be axed. Conservatives believe we need to be a country which allows our people to prosper, rewards hard work, brings home an economy where the Canadian promise, including here in rural Alberta, can be realized again.