OTTAWA — Conservative leadership candidate Peter MacKay has released his plan for economic recovery and job creation coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and it includes the idea of reducing or eliminating the GST temporarily for hard-hit sectors such as restaurants and the tourism industry.
MacKay’s economic plan has eight sections but it contains little detail about the policies and does not include any costing. Many of the ideas in the plan are standard Conservative positions, including repealing Bills C-69 and C-48 , scrapping the federal carbon tax, rejecting Huawei’s participation in Canada’s 5G network, and rolling back reforms the Liberals made to small business tax planning practices. The plan includes a section on getting government finances “under control,” but it is a vague goal with no specifics attached.
Another policy idea is to allow Canadians to make a $10,000 tax-free withdrawal from RRSPs for two years. “This creates no bureaucracy, no government debt and lets people decide how to spend their money,” the plan says. This proposal was earlier pitched by the C.D. Howe Institute’s Alexandre Laurin and the University of Waterloo’s Nick Pantaleo as an “an immediate and cheap source of financial assistance” for Canadians suffering from the pandemic’s economic fallout.
Cause people aren't going out because of the GST. What a dumb proposal.
How about being smart PeterMacKay & just make a flat tax across Canada of 12% for everything. Do refunds to businesses as needed. Then make all retailers post the TOTAL price, price+tax, for a product. Australia does this. Makes life easier for people to know what to spend.
It is not an effective way to help because there is no business. The only way is that promote people to order online pick up at restaurants.
onlyafewcows Still no
Temporary? You'll have to do better than that, blue liberal
Now this is a good idea! I am not a Mackay supporter but I agree with this .
Wow - innovative policy from a conservative ... if it was 1988 still. Today? It's a rehash of bad policy that went off about 10 years ago.
Boy thats stupid
Conservatives should appoint a woman ( preferably a Lesbian ) as their new leader, you have got to move with the times an old middle-aged business-orientated white guy is not going to cut it anymore, also promise the electorate that everything will be free and you may get elected
It’s not just about the money: we want political reform; reassurance that what Trudeau is currently doing will never ever happen again. No more dictatorship.
You can reduce it instead of a ‘temporary relief’. No? There are other areas from which to collect taxes. GST
Dose little Peter know a reduction in GST is shadowy way to increase deficits, & ultimately debt, right?
Or pay back the HST of 2019 to all restaurants and retailers
Peter Mackay is going to do what all Conservative leaders do - undo everything the Libs have done, and make promises w/ no actual plan or explanations. He will never be Prime Minister, and until the Conservatice Party starts caring for ALL canadians, they won't either.