Raise the GST!
The Liberal government will soon table its federal budget. It faces a deficit of almost 100 billion dollars and some very pricey campaign promises. But Christopher Smillie says the government just can't afford to make good on all those promises, unless it raises the GST.
The federal government will soon table its budget.
And when it does, Christopher Smillie is hoping the federal finance minister will be bold enough to raise the GST.
Smillie, principal of Tactix government relations and public affairs, argues the move would allow the government to make good on its many pricey campaign promises.
It is estimated that more than seven billion dollars could be raised annually by hiking the GST up just one percentage point. Restoring a two percentage point cut made by a previous government would bring in fourteen billion dollars annually.- Christopher Smillie
And he reasons, raising the GST would relieve the government of having to act on other revenue streams like taxing employer-provided benefit plans or pensioner premiums.
To Smillie, if Canadians are convinced of the importance of the government's promised spending, then they have to accept that a consumption tax is an efficient way of contributing to paying for it.
Canadians voted for a new approach, so we have to finance the new approach in a sustainable way.- Christopher Smillie