Canada PoliticsDespite growing list of promises, Thomas Mulcair says NDP wouldn’t raise taxes
President George Bush senior didn't actually keep his 1988 campaign promise of "no new taxes" but it did help him win the election.
Maybe the same thing will happen to Thomas Mulcair?
According to The Telegram, the NDP leader was in Newfoundland on Wednesday and was asked how a NDP government would pay for the all the promises that they've been making.
“You’re the first person who’s ever asked me that,” he said, adding quickly that they most definitely won’t.
“I am categorical on that,” he said. “Several provinces are now at the 50 per cent rate. Beyond that, you’re not talking taxation; you’re talking confiscation. And that is never going to be part of my policies, going after more individual taxes. Period. Full stop.”
He said the NDP would spend money on different things, and the NDP would make cuts, but they would be better cuts.
“Yes, you can order your priorities differently. Yes, there is enough money there,” he said. “This is the type of thing that has to be done with a scalpel. They’re hacking away with a rusty machete. They don’t know what they’re doing. They’re lousy managers, and the NDP will provide really competent public administration.”
The first person that has ever asked him that? Really?
In March, in an interview with Bloomberg, Mulcair also said that he wouldn't raise sales or personal taxes but would increase corporate taxes.
[ Related: New poll suggests the vast majority of Canadians support more taxes for the rich ]
The reporter in Newfoundland was right to ask the question.
While on the east coast, Mulcair has made promises about search and rescue helicopters and new ferry links.
And over the past couple months, they've been asking the Conservatives for more money for things like:
- homeless veterans,
- healthcare for refugees
- food support programs for the north
- striking diplomats
- First Nation schools
- City infrastructure and transportation
[ Related: NDP says new rules for Temporary Foreign Worker Program won’t curb abuses ]
The 'no new taxes' strategy is an interesting tact for Mulcair to take.
Of late, some political parties in Canada have suggested that they would raise taxes. During the last election campaign in B.C., for example, the NDP said that they would increase the income tax for the top earners in the province by a rate of 2.2 percentage points.
Moreover, in 2012, left-leaning think tank the Broadbent Institute, whose namesake is a former leader of the New Democrats, was touting a survey that suggested that more 80 per cent of Canadians were in favour of a tax hike on the wealthiest Canadians, while 64 per cent said they were willing to pay "slightly more" taxes to curb Canada's growing income gap.
[ More Politics: Petition to relocate 2014 Olympics to Vancouver reaches 66,000 signatures ]
Later this month, Mulcair will launch another campaign to abolish the senate that costs Canadians $100 million a year.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like $100 million will pay for the all the NDP promises.
(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)
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