Article content

It’s obvious that the Liberal Party has pretty much all the same band members and playlist as it had before, so it’s not out of line to remind Canadians of some very controversial tax policies that have been considered by them during their time in power.

Article content

The first is a home equity tax. The target appears to be older Canadians who have paid off their homes and have equity. Last summer, there were a number of reports and videos floating around that various Liberal party members, including former prime minister Justin Trudeau, had met with a think tank called Generation Squeeze to discuss “generational fairness” issues, including the introduction of a home equity tax.

Article content

Article content

Article content

Generation Squeeze seems to think that one of the ways to enable younger Canadians to afford a home is to go after older people who have worked hard to pay off their homes.

Article content

Article content

“Gen Squeeze believes that it’s time to protect real shelters, not tax shelters. It’s unfair to sustain a system in which the hard work Canadians do every day in their jobs is taxed more than the wealth homeowners gain from rising prices while they sleep and watch TV,” it once said on its website. “The first step is putting a price on housing inequity by adding a modest surtax on homes valued at more than $1 million. This surtax will apply only to the top 12 per cent of high-value homes.”

Article content

As I have explored before, a home equity tax is a ridiculous idea rooted in victimhood policy. Canadians already pay a long list of taxes on their homes, such as municipal property taxes and GST/HST on new builds, renovations and utilities.

Article content

Prior to the suspension of the carbon tax, they also paid significant amounts of that tax on home heating. In addition, if the eventual disposition of their home or rental property does not qualify for the principal residence exemption, they will pay capital gains taxes to the extent the property has appreciated.

Article content

Article content

Article content

Article content

Another thing that left-of-centre progressives often call for is a wealth tax, which by definition is a tax on the assets of an entity (often an individual). A wealth tax can take many forms, but its general policy or purpose (other than to raise taxation revenues) is to attempt to prevent extreme wealth accumulation and redistribute it to the less wealthy.

Article content

Wealth taxes were once in vogue, but the number of countries that currently have them in their tool belts has significantly declined. Currently, only four countries have a net wealth tax and another four deploy a wealth tax on the value of certain assets (usually real estate).

Article content

The NDP’s 2021 election policy called for a one per cent wealth tax on a person’s net assets over $10 million, which the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated would cost Canadians more than $60 billion over five years. Currently, the policy platforms for the NDP do not call for a wealth tax, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see such a policy put forward by the NDP later on in the campaign.