If the member across the way would like to engage in a debate about how poorly his government spends tax money, I would do it. I raise it now because it is relevant to the debate.
Who slips through the cracks? The 50,000 seniors are the ones who will get nailed by this measure. We should be concerned about them and not the revenue minister or the technicalities.
Does it solve the problem it was intended to address? What was the problem? There was a complication. Both the United States and Canada had joint jurisdiction in taxing social security benefits. Under the second protocol Canada had a crack at 50%. Under the third protocol the United States and Canada both had relatively equal cracks at roughly 25% each. That was complex and proved to be too problematic so people were calling for a change. They asked for it to be taken back to the time when Canada had full jurisdiction.
Then the Liberals agreed to do that, but rather than moving back to the 50% they had in the second protocol, they brought in a tax hike and hit everybody with 85%. Does it solve the problem of the complexity? Yes, it makes sure Canada has sole jurisdiction. Only the Canadian taxman, the finance minister and the revenue minister on the Liberal benches will get the money. It no longer goes to the United States.
However, they solve the problem by bringing in a tax hike, a built-in 70% top up in terms of what was coming in before as revenue. It is the 37th tax increase the government has implemented since it took office in 1993.
Surely, if there are problems with a bill, the Liberals should be running with their tails between their legs, realizing this is a tax grab that they will be nailed for.
The list gets worse. Now it comes to how much it will cost. The seniors affected say it will impact them to the tune of about $2,000 each. It could be much more for many of them. If we take that round number and multiply it by 50,000, we are talking about millions of dollars which the government is milking from a small select group of seniors. It applies to anybody who makes more than $7,000 a year. This impacts a wide spectrum of seniors.
Of those 50,000 people collecting U.S. social security benefits, those who make more than $7,000 per year will be impacted by the Liberal tax grab. Anyone who makes beyond the basic tax exemption will be nailed by members across the way.
They have the audacity to claim that this is a technical tax hike. It is not. It is impacting on every person of the 50,000 who qualify for U.S. social security benefits above the basic tax exemption of $7,000. It is tough for me to imagine how one would be able to live on $7,000, but some seniors obviously do it. Government members say that anybody who makes more than $7,000 will be taxed at an 85% rate of inclusion on their U.S. social security benefits. Shame on them.
They did not have the courage to raise this issue before the election. No, they dillied and they dallied. They brought it in as one of their first measures after they formed the government.
Why did they bring it in right after they secured their mandate in an election? Why did they raise CPP premiums? Why did they do these things? It is because they know these things are unpopular. It is a classic example of government reserving tax hike decisions until after the election.
When they were campaigning in Windsor where it will impact a lot of seniors I did not hear the Liberals talking about how they would suck tax money out of seniors who live in that neck of the woods. They did not have the courage to do it. They knew it would impact on votes, the bottom line for Liberals. They left the decision until after the election. Just like the CPP tax hike, they are bringing it in right on the heels of the election. They are hoping seniors will forget by the time it comes around to the next election.
I speak on behalf of seniors in Windsor, for those people who are being taxed beyond the second and third protocols. I hope these people remember and take it out on the Liberals in Windsor who did not stand up for them or talk about it previous to the election. They brought it in on the heels of their mandate. I hope they lose their seats for what they have done to seniors in Windsor and across the country who will be taxed at an 85% rate of inclusion, 70% higher than they were taxed under the second protocol. Shame on the Liberals.