Poilievre offers investor tax break, Singh targets 1st-time homebuyers, Blanchet offers help to seniors
'This will be like economic rocket fuel for Canada,' Conservative leader says in Toronto
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced his second tax break of the campaign targeted at investors Sunday, promising to defer capital gains taxes if the proceeds are reinvested in Canada.
"The current capital gains tax locks up investment in old assets, because selling them would force a big bill," Poilievre said in a statement.
"Allowing reinvestments without tax will unlock billions to immediately begin building, hiring, investing and growing."
The Conservatives say the tax cut, which would be available to investors from Canada Day until the end of 2026, will be made permanent if it's proven successful at driving economic growth.
The party says any gains made on Canadian investments will still be taxable when the investor cashes out their investment for good or moves the proceeds of that investment out of Canada.
"This will be like economic rocket fuel for Canada," Poilievre told an audience in Toronto on Sunday. "We will soar above the Americans. We will reverse the lost Liberal decade and make this country boom."
The Conservatives say the change would cost $5 billion in 2025 and $5.5 billion in 2026. Poilievre also announced last week that his government would cut the lowest marginal rate of income tax by 2.25 percentage points, at a cost of $14 billion a year.
Refocusing the campaign on Trump
On Thursday, Poilievre announced a future Conservative government would allow investors to contribute $5,000 more a year to their tax-free savings accounts (TFSA) — as long as they invest that extra cash in Canadian companies.
The Conservatives did not provide a costing for the TFSA top up.
CBC News has reported that sources within the party are complaining about a "dysfunctional" campaign with too much centralized power and the belittling and aggressive treatment of staff.
At the heart of that reported dysfunction are concerns by some Conservatives that the campaign needs to pivot — and focus more on the threat posed by the U.S. President Donald Trump.
Asked about whether he intends to focus on Trump and tariffs, Poilievre insisted his campaign is already doing so.
"Today we are standing up to the Americans with a Canada first reinvestment tax cut," he said. "President Trump has said he wants the Liberals back in power. We know why; he wants Canada weak."
Blanchet criticizes Carney over quiet weekend
Speaking in Danville, Que., on Sunday, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet announced a host of policies targeting seniors, including:
- Expanding a tax credit for Quebecers aged 60 and over to the rest of Canada.
- Implementing an automatic income tax return for seniors.
- Adding protections for defined benefit pension plans.
- Increasing the home care tax credit for people aged 70 and over.
- Introducing a tax credit for energy-efficient renovations to multi-generational residences that allow seniors to stay in their homes longer.
- Changing federal pension legislation to allow people who remarry or enter a common-law relationship after turning 60 to receive survivor benefits from their new spouse's estate.
At the announcement, Blanchet told reporters that Liberal Leader Mark Carney is taking Quebec votes for granted by not holding news conferences this weekend.
Blanchet said Carney had an "orgy of skeletons" in his closet and accused him of hiding from the media.
On Saturday, Carney met with volunteers at his Nepean riding office. Sunday Carney met with an Ottawa family before flying to Toronto where he met with volunteers. The Liberal leader has not taken questions from the media over the two days.
Singh pitches government loans for homebuyers
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced his party's plan to give first-time homebuyers who qualify for a mortgage access to publicly backed, low-interest, fixed-term loans.
"This will make a huge difference in people's lives; they'd have affordable loans so they can actually buy their first home," Singh said in Port Moody, B.C., Sunday.
Asked if he's approached banks and credit unions about the possible impact of government loans entering the mortgage market, Singh said he was not concerned about the opinions of Canada's big banks.
"I'm not too worried about what banks think. This is about helping out people," Singh said. "I think it's the right thing to do to help out a first-time homebuyer."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
