Essential goods shouldn’t be taxed

From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

The Trudeau government’s two-month GST holiday on certain items has been called many things.

Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland resignation letter suggests she thinks it’s a “gimmick.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called it a “tax trick.”

But here’s a more fundamental question: If the government thinks Canadians needs a sales tax holiday on certain items, why are those basics taxed in the first place?

Items like car seats, diapers, and pre-prepared foods are all taxed by the feds. They’re all also subject to the federal government’s sales tax holiday, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says was triggered because Canadians are having a hard time making ends meet.

“Our government can’t set prices, but we can give Canadians, and especially working Canadians, more money back in their pocket,” said Trudeau at his GST holiday announcement.

At least Trudeau seems to know it’s bad for governments to set prices. But the government does raise prices by adding sales tax on top of goods Canadians have to buy.

And you don’t need to be a parent to know that car seats and diapers are among the most essential goods on a parent’s shopping list.

Take a car seat. A mid-tier car seat costs around $250. The federal sales tax, which is currently at five per cent, adds $12.50 to the final cost of that car seat.

Parents across the country are no doubt asking why things like car seats and diapers were taxed by the feds in November, will be taxed again by the feds in March, but aren’t being taxed right now.

What justification can the government possibly give to parents on Feb. 16, 2025 – the day this sales tax holiday ends – for once again taxing things like car seats and diapers?

The same goes for pre-prepared meals. Many Canadians buy pre-prepared food at grocery stores to bring to work for lunch or to eat on the go. Why are the ingredients for that pre-prepared meal not taxed but the final meal is? And why take the tax off a grocery store deli sandwich now but not a few months from now?

There’s even more of an argument to be made on this front because many provinces don’t tax a lot of the items that are part of the feds’ sales tax holiday.

Take Ontario as an example.

Canada’s most populous province doesn’t tax things like books, children’s clothing, car seats, and diapers. Some pre-prepared foods aren’t taxed either.

If provinces don’t tax these items, why do the feds?

The Trudeau government took inspiration from the NDP when it comes to the GST break. It ought to also take inspiration from the party’s call to make relief permanent.

Trudeau’s GST announcement came just days after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called for the permanent removal of the federal sales tax on items like pre-prepared meals, diapers, and car seats. Singh’s proposal actually went much further, and included ending the GST on home heating, as well as internet and phone bills.

In touting his proposal, Singh argued that “those taxes never should have been there in the first place.”

Singh is right. Essential goods shouldn’t be subject to the GST. Period.

Just days after Singh’s announcement, Trudeau played copycat with one of his own.

But a two-month reprieve pales in comparison to permanent relief.

If the Trudeau government wants to deliver real relief to struggling Canadian families, essential items that most provinces already don’t tax, such as diapers, car seats, and pre-prepared meals, should be permanently exempt from the GST.

Permanent sales tax relief is more than doable. The feds could deliver on it without hiking the deficit by taking a sledgehammer to the more than $40 billion a year they hand out in corporate welfare.

Anything less than a permanent sales tax break simply won’t cut it when it comes to cutting costs for Canadians.

Related Topics:#CanadianTaxpayersFederation #JayGoldberg GSTHoliday

Up Next

What an Effective All-of-Government Program Review Might Look Like

Don't Miss

Gwyn Morgan: Natural Gas – Not Nuclear – Is the Key to Powering North America’s Future

Todayville

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

ICE raid proves Tren de Aragua illegals in US—despite denials

Business / 8 hours ago

Trump’s FBI questionnaire exposes shocking conspiracy

International / 9 hours ago

State Dept.: U.S. vessels can travel through Panama Canal without paying fees

Business

Trump’s FBI questionnaire exposes shocking conspiracy

Published on February 6, 2025

Todayville

MxM News

Quick Hit:

Mary Rooke’s recent op-ed in The Daily Caller highlights how President Trump’s administration has uncovered what she terms as a major conspiracy within the FBI, where agents were allegedly reassigned from critical child pornography investigations to pursue cases against January 6 protestors.

Key Points:

The FBI diverted resources from a child pornography investigation to focus on January 6 riot cases.
Trump’s questionnaire to FBI employees revealed that approximately 5,000 agents were dedicated to Capitol riot investigations.
Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for FBI Director, aims to cleanse the agency of personnel working against its mission.
The op-ed questions the prioritization of law enforcement efforts under previous administration.

Diving Deeper:

In her commentary published on February 6, 2025, for The Daily Caller, Mary Rooke delves into what she describes as a shocking revelation within the FBI, facilitated by a straightforward questionnaire from President Donald Trump. According to Rooke, this has exposed a disturbing shift in priorities under the previous administration.

Rooke references an investigation initially reported by The Daily Wire in November 2023, which exposed an incident from January 2021. She details how the FBI, allegedly under Biden’s administration, redirected its focus from a significant child pornography case involving Brogan Welsh to prosecute those involved in the January 6 Capitol riot. “Despite overwhelming evidence proving that Welsh was a danger to children, the FBI decided to drop the investigation in order to go after Trump supporters,” Rooke asserts, highlighting what she calls a “major conspiracy the left has demonized conservative media for covering.”

She provides specifics on Welsh’s case: “The Washington Bureau tracked Brogan Welsh through the IP address he used to send their undercover agent explicit messages expressing his intent to rape a young boy. Welsh apparently sent a video of ‘a prepubescent minor male being anally penetrated by an adult male’s erect penis,'” according to the Daily Wire’s report.

Further, Rooke notes that Welsh’s activities were uncovered by the FBI’s Alaska bureau after they found evidence suggesting he might have been sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy. She quotes, “On October 24, 2023, after coming across troubling chats from Welsh on a phone they seized from a different alleged pervert, Alaska FBI agents went into his house and ‘located items including sex toys that are very small in size and apparently consistent with the body size of an approximate 10-year-old boy,’ as well as children’s underwear.”

Rooke criticizes the FBI’s decision to abandon this investigation, particularly when it was revealed through Trump’s questionnaire that 5,000 FBI employees were involved in January 6 cases. “How many child rapists went without prosecution so the FBI could send armed agents to terrorize American grandmothers in their homes? How many criminals came across the southern border? How many of the cyber attacks we experienced during the Biden administration could have been prevented had the FBI focused on protecting our country?” she questions, underscoring the potential neglect of other serious crimes due to this shift in focus.

She also discusses the contentious confirmation hearings for Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for FBI Director, who has vowed to “purge the agency of personnel who have worked against the mission to keep America safe.” Democrats have been criticized for their attempts to delay his confirmation, which Rooke sees as an obstruction to necessary reforms within the FBI.

Rooke concludes her op-ed by emphasizing the broader implications of these actions, suggesting that the Trump administration’s efforts are part of a larger movement to restore accountability and integrity to federal law enforcement. She posits, “For decades, the federal government has operated as if it wasn’t accountable to the American people. The Trump administration has been working diligently to clean out the rot… If Trump keeps up this pace, we might actually get our country back.”

This detailed analysis by Rooke paints a picture of political manipulation within one of America’s key law enforcement agencies, stirring significant debate on the balance between national security, justice, and political motivations.

Business

Canadian commission suggests more gov’t money for mainstream media to fight ‘misinformation’

Published on February 6, 2025

Todayville

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Foreign Interference Commission Justice Marie-Josée Hogue recommended in her final report on election interference that additional taxpayer money be pumped into legacy media outlets that are already receiving billions from the government to make sure news is ‘trustworthy and of good quality.’

The Foreign Interference Commission in one of its many recommendations suggested that the Canadian government hand out millions of additional dollars to legacy media outlets for combating supposed “misinformation and disinformation.”

The suggestion to pump up legacy media with more taxpayer money was made by Foreign Interference Commission Justice Marie-Josée Hogue in her final report on election interference that was released last week. It was one of 51 recommendations from her investigation into election meddling in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

Hogue’s 44th recommendation reads that the federal government, which already spends billions to support legacy media, “should pursue discussions with media organizations and the public around modernizing media funding and economic models to support professional media, including local and foreign language media, while preserving media independence and neutrality.”

According to Houge, “Traditional journalism is struggling,” and because of this “Media organizations are facing financial challenges as citizens turn away from mainstream media, and towards social media or non-traditional platforms that may, for a variety of reasons, be more susceptible to misinformation and disinformation.”

Houge noted that she was on board with a Department of Canadian Heritage witness who testified at a commission hearing that Canadian media should be supported to make sure news is “trustworthy and of good quality.”

“I share their concern about Canada’s professional media. Canada must have a press that is strong and free,” Hogue said.

“It is crucial to have credible and reliable sources of information to counterbalance misinformation and disinformation,” she added.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, the final report from the Foreign Interference Commission concluded that operatives from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) may have had a hand in helping to elect a handful of MPs in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian federal elections.

Hogue urged in her January 28 final report that Canada “remain vigilant because the threat of foreign interference is real,” but stopped short of saying CCP interference was influential enough to tilt the outcomes of the elections.

This extra funding comes despite the fact the Department of Canadian Heritage has admitted payouts to the CBC are not sufficient to keep legacy media outlets running.

There have been many cases where the CBC has appeared to push ideological content, including the creation of pro-LGBT material for kids, tacitly endorsing the gender mutilation of children, promoting euthanasia, and even seeming to justify the burning of mostly Catholic churches throughout the country.

Furthermore, in October, Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge’s department admitted that federally funded media outlets buy “social cohesion.”