Mr. Speaker, in October, I asked the Minister of Finance how he could justify taxing the passive investment income of Darrel and Kathy, farmers in my riding, at a rate a third higher than he would tax the millionaire owners of Morneau Shepell. Apparently, he could not. For all his talk of tax fairness, it took the voices of thousands of Canadian farmers, doctors, and small business owners to convince him to not take 73% of their passive investments.
The finance minister and the Prime Minister claim that they are only raising taxes on the wealthy. However, we know that this is not true. Under the Liberals, over 80% of hard-working middle-class Canadians are paying, on average, $800 more per family. The finance minister claimed that he would not raise taxes on small businesses but later admitted that his tax plan would do just that.
Time and time again, the Liberals have been caught trying to take more money out of the pockets of hard-working Canadians. Whether they are raising taxes on local businesses, going after health and dental benefits, or even trying to tax fast-food workers for their discounted burgers, the Liberals are not to be trusted. There is a reason for this. This is the way they think. They believe that success is to be frowned upon, to be discouraged. When the Liberals say “rich”, what they actually mean is “taxpayer”. A small business owner is not able to simply jet off to a previously forgotten French villa, unlike some members on the other side.
The government would rather see small business owners scrape by, or even close up shop, than make a decent profit for the hours of hard, honest work they put into keeping their businesses open. The results of its policies are clear to anyone who has had to live under them for any considerable length of time. As small businesses are taxed at ever higher rates, they begin to close up shop, and in the process, their employees lose their jobs. Their policies ensure that those struggling to make ends meet struggle even more, and it seems that the Liberals are fine with that. To paraphrase the Right Hon. Margaret Thatcher, they would rather the poor be poorer, provided the rich cease to be rich.
This is why Canadians do not trust them. This is why our Conservative caucus has called for the resignation of the Minister of Finance. It is not just that he cannot be trusted to be open and transparent with his own finances; he cannot be trusted to be open and transparent with the finances of millions of Canadians.
The Liberals will claim that they are for the middle class. If this is so, when will they stop trying to tax them into poverty?