Re: recent federal government changes to capital gains tax

Aside from the fact recent changes to capital gains tax will impact only 0.13 per cent of all Canadian taxpayers, which Mr. Poilievre hopes you don’t know, it must be remembered that those 0.13 per cent are among the wealthy. A Medicine Hat News article (August 20/24 edition, p.7) quotes a study, by two research groups, showing that it is the highest income earners (over $250,000/year) who benefit the most, and who also benefit disproportionately more than do lower income earners from the tax exemptions applicable to capital gains. The study notes only 1.5 per cent of all tax filers earn over $250,000 per year. The 0.13 per cent are among them. That is for whom Mr. Poilievre and Conservatives are fighting as they stand against the recent changes. 

Beyond the above, however, is Mr. Poilievre’s reason for opposing the recent change, which will include a bit more of capital gains in the taxable income of those 0.13 per cent of tax filers. His reason is he believes jobs will be lost. He is wrong, for two reasons. Firstly, the study shows that, in the years 2018 to 2022, the three sectors of our economy which earned over 52 per cent of capital gains actually lost nearly 5,000 jobs. In other words, two years before the recent changes the Conservatives oppose, jobs were not only not being created, they were being lost.

Secondly, Mr. Poilievre, and conservatives in general, believe that lower taxes cause increases in jobs. That is false. For a business, a tax is one of the expenses of that business, and no business ever hired more workers because expenses declined. When expenses decline, there is more profit in the business, but without a greater demand for the goods and services the business sells, hiring more employees will merely increase expenses and, thus, decrease profits. What truly drives job creation in a business is greater demand for its goods and services. Jobs are created when the boss says “We can’t keep up with demand. We need more people,” not when the boss spends less.

     Yours truly,

Gregory R. Côté, Irvine

One response to “Re: recent federal government changes to capital gains tax”

1. Fedup Conservative says:

   August 31, 2024 at 7:30 PM

   Gregory has nailed it. This is the same Pierre Poilievre who promised to destroy the CBC and 7,960 jobs for daring to question his stupidity. He is the same guy who tried to help Stephen Harper destroy our Public Health Care System and they were kicked out and Trudeau elected. Now his pal Danielle Smith has destroyed another 24,000 jobs along with a $33 billion investment in Alberta by destroying further development of green energy. Where is the intelligence in that? Now she wants to ram privatization of healthcare down our throats by giving away our hospitals, are Albertans going to let her?

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