Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition this afternoon to Bill C-2, an act to amend the Income Tax Act.
Bill C-2 would implement the so-called Liberal middle-class tax cut. The biggest problem with that so-called Liberal middle-class tax cut is that it does not actually cut taxes for middle-income Canadians. I will get to that in just a minute.
Bill C-2 would reduce the income tax rate from 22% to 20.5% for Canadians earning less than $200,000. It sounds pretty good on the surface, and I guess during the election campaign a lot of Canadians thought it sounded pretty good, but, like everything, the devil is in the details. What does it actually mean? How much are Canadians actually going to save? The answer is not a lot.
Take, for example, a Canadian who earns between $62,000 and $78,000. How much would that Canadian save under the so-called Liberal middle-class tax cut? The answer is about $117 a year or $2.25 a week. What does $2.25 get someone in Canada these days? I think a person would be lucky to get a double-double at Tim Hortons.
What about someone who is making $48,000 to $52,000? How much would that individual get back by way of the so-called Liberal middle-class tax cut? It would be $51 a year, or less than a $1 a day. That person would be lucky to to get a doughnut or a muffin at Tim Hortons in the morning for less than $1, but that is what the Liberals are offering Canadians earning $48,000 to $52,000 a year.
How about Canadians who earn $45,000? I would say that is pretty well smack dab in the middle of the middle class. How much will get under the so-called Liberal middle-class tax cut? The answer is zero, zip, nada. As I say, the biggest problem with the so-called Liberal middle-class tax cut is that it does not cut taxes for middle-class Canadians.
What is the cost of the so-called Liberal middle-class tax cut? The Prime Minister, during the election campaign, went all over Canada with his sunny ways and blue skies, saying it would be revenue neutral. Then barely after the ballots were counted, the Prime Minister had his finance minister, because I guess he did not have the courage to do so himself, say it would not be revenue neutral.