Dreams do come true. U.S. President Donald Trump wished for Canada’s tax on U.S. tech companies to disappear on Friday, and by Sunday, it had.
Mostly, there was a sense of surprise that the federal government would play such a valuable card this soon. The digital services tax (DST), which Ottawa was supposed to start collecting on Monday, was unpopular with the U.S. government and the tech giants it targeted — Meta and Amazon, for example — and, conveniently, was not especially liked by business groups at home.
… “If the current government looks like it’s going to introduce a bill threatening supply management, this could create a lot of political headaches.”
Bill C-202 was sponsored by Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet as a nod to the party’s base in Quebec, where the dairy farming industry is heavily concentrated. The Conservatives are also looking to expand in the province while maintaining their rural base in Ontario.
“This is where the issue becomes existential for the political fortunes of Carney’s Liberal government,” said Hampson.
