44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 27, 2022 10:00AM
- Sep/27/22 2:22:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is never the right time to raise taxes on the working poor, yet that is exactly what the minister admits she will do. She admits that raising the EI premiums, the EI payroll taxes, will take $2.5 billion extra out of the hands of Canadian workers, and not to fund EI. She also admits through her own public filings that the government will take $10 billion more in EI taxes than it will pay out in benefits, money the Prime Minister will raid from the account and spend however he likes.
Will the Prime Minister get his hands off the EI fund and the paycheques of our workers?
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- Sep/27/22 2:24:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we were terrific economic managers together, and we will be again. I am just getting a little practice on answering questions. We will be doing more of it when we are in government soon.
EI payments have gone up for the average $60,000-a-year worker, from $930 when I was the minister to $948 now. That is a small increase, but the big $2.5-billion tax increase is just ahead. The minister admits the money will not even go to EI; it will go to government spending.
Why will the Liberals not get their hands off the EI fund and the paycheques of our workers?
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- Sep/27/22 2:25:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is both. The total payroll tax of a $60,000-a-year earner went from $3,400 under the previous Conservative government to $4,168 today. The reality is that none of that was necessary and the Liberals want to use the money for anything but EI.
On top of that, now they plan to triple the carbon tax, raising gas, heat and grocery costs and killing jobs for many people in many sectors. Their policy is paycheques down and costs up, and in fairness they are succeeding at both.
Will they stop that policy and cancel their tax hikes?
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- Sep/27/22 2:56:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, economists agree that payroll taxes like the increase that the government is pushing on Canadians are the most regressive form of taxation, because they lead to lower productivity and jobs leaving Canada.
That is not stopping the government from jamming these taxes onto Canadian workers. Inflation is eroding Canadians' ability to buy the basics, and the government is gouging more of their take-home pay. Canadians get to feel the pain of the government's reckless policies at both ends.
Will the government cancel its planned tax increase on Canadians' paycheques?
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- Sep/27/22 2:58:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the last decade, payroll contributions under the government have risen by 13% for employment insurance and over 60% for CPP. The last year has seen the effects of massive government overspending, showing up in inflation numbers Canadians have not seen in 40 years. Workers' paycheques are not going as far, and now there will be even less in those paycheques.
Given the harsh rise in the cost of living for Canadians, will the minister take heed and cancel the tax increase on Canadians' paycheques?
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- Sep/27/22 3:25:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.
Before asking my colleague a question, I do wish to recognize the passing of a friend from high school and former constituent, Daniel Letendre. I wish his family all the best, and may eternal light shine upon him.
I heard my colleague speaking about small business tax cuts and things of that nature. Would he agree that, especially over the last seven years, we have seen incrementalism come in when we are dealing with paycheques? There is 1.5% on income tax and a little more on CPP, and then there is a little more on EI and a little more on the carbon tax. If we look at take-home pay over the last 20 years, it has slowly dwindled, and house prices have doubled under the government.
How can we simply say that we are doing something for small business or for the ordinary Canadian when, incrementally, the situation has gotten way worse, especially with inflation and rises in these types of expenses?
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