It’s a rare day in Canada that sees overt debate about class and power. But after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released her latest budget, that’s apparently what we got.
The triggering element wasn’t the deficit, the debt or new program spending. It was an increase in the capital-gains tax inclusion rate to 67 per cent from 50 per cent for businesses and for personal investment income above $250,000, a move that will generate $20-billion in tax revenue in the next five years.
After the budget, facing much backlash from the business community, Ms. Freeland said something I haven’t heard her say before: The tax changes were part of keeping the wheels of democracy turning.
A budget that angers the rich and does nothing to ease the burden of Canada’s impoverished.
