Madam Speaker, the Liberals' small business tax hikes continue to target hard-working middle-class families in Canada. Thousands of people in my riding are terrified that their businesses might go under due to the tax changes announced this summer.
These changes not only jeopardize their business, but also their economic well-being as families. For example, Charmaine, a new Canadian in my riding, shared her heartbreaking circumstances with me. I want to quote her directly. She said, “I am the sole breadwinner for my family. My husband is abroad.... I have three children struggling with university and high school studies. My father-in-law stays with me who is dependent on me.... These taxes would leave me in more debts and would adversely affect the entire family and create an obstacle for us to settle down in Canada.”
Unlike the finance minister, local business owners in my riding and all across Canada do not have the luxury of tucking away millions of dollars for a rainy day. They are hard-working, visionary, risk takers. They are Canadians who make approximately $75,000 or less per year. The minister calls these individuals “fat cats”; I call them job creators.
My riding is home to many farms and ag operators or producers. When I talk about this, I am talking about small businesses. I am talking about families who work together. I am talking about parents, children, and perhaps grandparents, who are all part of the operation. Together, they work as a collective to make sure their business thrives.
The Liberal government has promised to target these hard-working families, who will now have their businesses scrutinized by bureaucrats here in Ottawa. The CRA tax men who have not spent a day on a farm are going to dictate what counts as farm work and what does not. As we have seen over the past few months, we know not to trust CRA staff. They really do not know what they are talking about when it comes to being able to discern the difference between a legitimate claim or not.
Let me give an example. Diabetics who used to receive the disability tax credit for many years suddenly have CRA agents deciding, no, their claims do not meet the mark anymore. They have been told they do not qualify, and because the CRA has changed its “interpretation”, it says, of the seriousness of the illness, those with diabetes will no longer be given this tax credit.
These are the types of people who are going to decide what counts as farm work and what does not. These individuals, thousands of miles away from my riding in Lethbridge, Alberta, will dictate to my ag operators what is determined to be equitable work and what is not, what is to be fair and what is not.
Why are the Liberals choosing to do this? Why are they choosing to put such power in the CRA?
Agriculture is a hard and uncertain business. Farming does not result in trust funds, like the Prime Minister's. The inheritance that comes from farming is in fact the farming operation itself, the land, the equipment, the work.
Maurice from my riding told me that “These tax changes...will take our dream of passing down the business to third-generation family members, and for the most part wipe out our retirement funds.” The Liberals' proposed tax changes to capital gains would indeed make it nearly impossible for family farms to be kept within the family. How is that fair?
Instead of cancelling these changes, the Liberals have said they are going to put them on pause for a while and will consult. However, the truth is that we have seen them consult before. Consultation for the Liberals does not look like listening.
My question is simple. Will the Liberals admit that their tax proposals are fundamentally flawed, and will they finally do the right thing and back down?