MNI BRIEF: Trudeau Says Canada Tax Holiday Won't Boost CPI

MNI (OTTAWA) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday billions of dollars of proposed tax breaks won't boost inflation, an announcement coming as he’s badly trailing in opinion polls and the budget office says the government has already broken a pledge for deficits no greater than CAD40 billion.

“Now that inflation has come down back to the target range in Canada and has been for 10 months, interest rates are coming down again which is providing real relief for Canadians. Even with that, Canadians need a tax break,” Trudeau said at a press conference alongside Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. Inflation quickened to 2% in October from the prior 1.6% and the BOC has cut rates four times this year saying prices appear to be stabilizing.

The finance department in a separate statement said the two-month GST tax holiday on basics like groceries but also restaurant meals and alcoholic drinks would provide CAD1.6 billion of tax relief. Checks of CAD250 are proposed for sending to an estimated 18.7 million eligible households, offering billions more. (See: MNI INTERVIEW: Trudeau Deficit Cap Strained By Election Threat)

Trudeau has been unable to advance legislation for weeks as Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives use what the government calls a filibuster around documents it’s been asked to turn over. While the NDP supports this kind of tax relief, it’s unclear if that assures the legal logjam will be cleared.