Trudeau says Conservatives' vote against budget is a vote against 'fairness'
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing the Conservatives of siding with “multi-millionaires” and standing against fairness over their decision not to support the federal budget.
The Liberals' latest spending plan, tabled in the House of Commons on Tuesday, aims to make corporations and rich individuals pay more tax on capital gains.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called it a “wasteful, inflationary budget” and said his party would vote against it.
On Wednesday morning at a meeting of the Liberal caucus, Trudeau said it isn't right that multi-millionaires are asked to pay less tax on capital gains than a teacher or electrician pays on their income.
He said the change would not affect 99.87 per cent of the population at all and does not apply to the sale of anyone's primary residence.
He did not mention the New Democrats or Leader Jagmeet Singh, who hasn't yet promised to back the budget despite his supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals.
The budget contains several NDP priorities, including funding for the first phase of national pharmacare and federal standards for long-term care.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet also said his caucus would not support the budget.
That means if the NDP breaks its agreement, the budget will fail, likely triggering an election.
Singh has said he wants to talk to Trudeau about what is missing from the budget, including any windfall taxes on excess profits for corporations.
He also said he believes the Conservatives would cancel important programs if they form government, including national child care and pharmacare.
Conservative housing critic Scott Aitchison said people shouldn't believe the Liberals' plan will ever come to fruition because they have promised a housing overhaul before and it never materialized.
“In 2017, Justin Trudeau stood in front of a large building project with lots of hard-working Canadians behind him and promised a life-changing transformational National Housing strategy,” Aitchison said.
“And we see the transformation: house prices have doubled, rent has doubled, mortgage rates have doubled and people can't afford to put food on their table and pay the rent.”
Aitchison said the solution for housing is that government should get out of the way.
- From housing initiatives to a disability benefit, how the federal budget impacts you
- Feds cutting 5,000 public service jobs
But Trudeau said the Conservatives are the ones trying to stop progress.
“They're voting against fairness,” he said. “They will be voting against asking the ultra-rich to pay their share. Canadians need responsible leadership right now - leaders who come to them with solutions ready to invest in Canadians ideas.”
The budget increased spending to more than $530 billion for 2024-25, with more than $11 billion in new spending largely focused on housing, student aid and grants, along with pharmacare and finally funding the long-promised disability benefit.
That benefit, at $200 a month, falls well shy of what advocates wanted to see.
The budget is in some ways a Hail Mary effort from the government to appeal to millennials and gen-Z voters, who once strongly backed the Liberals but have increasingly been drifting to the Conservatives as the affordability crisis is hitting them hard.
Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland are billing the budget as a fairness plan for younger Canadians.
The people being asked to pay more are among the ones “who've benefited from an economy that seems tipped towards them and away from everyone else, particularly young people,” said Trudeau.
“So we're asking them to pay their fair share so that younger generations can have the same opportunities that Xers, boomers and other generations had when they were starting out in their lives.”
The capital gains tax is expected to raise $19 billion over five years, by increasing the portion of capital gains that is taxed from 50 per cent to 66 per cent.
The change will apply to all corporations and trusts, along with individuals whose capital gains exceed $250,000 in a year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2024.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton attacked in prison
British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton was attacked in a Quebec prison Sunday in what officials described as a "major assault."
DEVELOPING Defence rests without Donald Trump taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial
Donald Trump's lawyers rested their defence Tuesday without the former president taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial.
Passenger killed, 30 injured as Singapore Airlines flight hits severe turbulence
One passenger was killed and 30 injured after a Singapore Airlines SIAL.SI flight from London hit severe turbulence en route on Tuesday, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Bangkok, officials and the airline said.
Feels like mid-30s in parts of Canada, while other areas expecting snow
Anything is possible this week, as far as Canada's weather is concerned, with forecasts ranging from scorching heat in some parts of the country to rain and snow in others.
Canada's inflation cools to 3-year low of 2.7%, in boost for rate cut bets
Canada's annual inflation rate slowed to a three-year low of 2.7 per cent in April, matching expectations, and core measures continued to ease, data showed on Tuesday, likely boosting chances of a June interest rate cut.
'Documents are fraudulent': Graceland is not for sale, Elvis Presley's granddaughter says in lawsuit
Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, is fighting plans to publicly auction his Graceland estate in Memphis after a company tried to sell the property based on claims that a loan using the king of rock ’n’ roll's former home as collateral was not repaid.
Trump campaign calls 'The Apprentice' 'blatantly false,' director offers to screen it for him
Donald Trump's reelection campaign called 'The Apprentice,' a film about the former U.S. president in the 1980s, 'pure fiction' and vowed legal action following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. But director Ali Abbasi is offering to privately screen the film for Trump.
Nestle to sell $5 pizza, sandwiches in the U.S. for Wegovy, Ozempic users
Nestle NESN.S will market a new, US$5 line of frozen pizzas and protein-enriched pastas in the United States which it says it designed specifically for people taking drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss.
What is BORG drinking, and why is it a dangerous trend? An expert explains
If you've been to a party lately and haven't seen someone drinking a BORG, you're likely not partying with college students.
Local Spotlight
Beyond books: Halifax libraries renting out instruments, sports equipment, memory kits and more
For those who go to their local libraries often, they know there’s much more to their library than just borrowing books. Local libraries in Atlantic Canada are now renting out a broader range of items for people.
'A special bird': The unbreakable bond between purple martins and humans
Flashes of purple darting across the sky mixed with the serenading sound of songs will be noticed more with spring in full force in Manitoba.
7-year-old Pokémon prodigy heading to Hawaii for world championship tournament
Catching 'em all with impressive speed, a 7-year-old boy from Windsor, Ont. who only started his competitive Pokémon journey seven months ago has already levelled up to compete at a world championship level.
VIDEO Born without front legs, this dog has been inspiring the world for 3 years: Dresden farm owner
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
From DVDs to rehearsals: Halifax theatre company transforms Video Difference building into arts hub
2b Theatre recently moved into the old Video Difference building, seeking to transform it into an artistic hub, meeting space, and temporary housing unit for visiting performers in Halifax.
'Another pair of eyes watching over me:' How a B.C. woman's service dog saved her from drowning
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
Starbucks fan on decades-long journey to visit every store in the world
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
'Sacred work': Sask. First Nation learning how to conduct its own underground searches
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
'It could mean a cure': Cautious optimism for groundbreaking ALS research at Western
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.