Conservatives, Liberals vote to collect taxes on essentials like heating bills, kids’ clothes

OTTAWA—Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives and Justin Trudeau’s Liberals voted Monday to tax essentials once the two-month GST holiday is over – keeping prices higher on home heating, internet and cell phone bills and daily essentials like grocery items, diapers and children’s clothing.

"We shouldn’t have been taxing essentials in the first place—and the more greedy CEOs hike prices, the more tax you pay. It’s wrong, and it’s got to stop,” said Singh. “The NDP is sick and tired of big corporations getting tax breaks while Canada’s working class families pay more and more. That’s why the NDP has committed to permanently stop taxing daily essentials and monthly bills, and that’s why we tried to take the tax off urgently, starting now. It’s shameful that the Conservatives, Liberals and Bloc Quebecois voted to keep taxing essentials.”

Singh’s motion would have also broadened $250 relief cheques to more people, including retired seniors, people who just entered the workforce and injured workers.

An NDP government will fund its GST cut with an excess profit tax paid by very large corporations that hike their profit margins. Excess profit or windfall taxes are used world-wide, including in the United Kingdom, Spain and Australia and have been used in Canada.

“Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives have proven who they’re working for,” said Singh. “The Conservatives want to take from people to feed more cash to corporations I want to collect more from the largest corporations to help families feed themselves.

“This battle for affordability isn’t over. While Conservatives and Liberals fight to make sure corporations get a bigger and bigger piece of the pie, the NDP is going to fight hard for everyday regular working people to get some relief.”

BACKGROUND: NDP MOTION

That, given that,

(i) Canadians are facing an affordability crisis and need more than temporary relief,
(ii) the government’s $250 Working Canadians Rebate would exclude many workers and other Canadians who need it the most,
(iii) the 2021 Conservative Party platform included a one-time GST holiday,

the House call on the government to:

(a) permanently remove the GST from essential goods, including home heating, grocery meals, Internet and mobile phone bills, diapers and kids’ clothes;
(b) expand the rebate to include all adults whose income is under the threshold and did not earn employment income in 2023, so that people like recent graduates trying to enter the workforce, retired seniors, people with disabilities, injured workers, workers on parental leave and long-term sick leave, and others in need are included; and
(c) pay for that measure by putting in place an excess profit tax targeting the largest and most profitable corporations.