Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre at a campaign event at Kruger Packaging in on March 24, where he promised a broad-based income tax cut on the lowest tax bracket.Carlos Osorio/Reuters
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising a broad-based income-tax cut that would lower the rate on the lowest income-tax bracket to 12.75 per cent from 15 per cent.
Mr. Poilievre made the announcement at a Brampton, Ont., packaging plant Monday morning and had hinted at the plan the night before at a large campaign kickoff rally in northeast Toronto. The tax pledge will be a key plank of his election platform, which Mr. Poilievre promised Monday will include a full accounting of his promises and what he will cut to help pay for them.
The lowest tax bracket applies on taxable income that is $57,375 or less, meaning a cut to that bracket will also benefit Canadians with higher taxable incomes.
“Because we are cutting the lowest bracket, every single Canadian who pays income tax will pay less,” he said. “Modest-income people will pay less in relative terms and as a share of their overall income.”
The Conservative Party said this would save $900 a year for an average Canadian worker earning $57,000, and up to $1,800 a year for the average family earning two incomes. Once fully implemented in about two years, the party projects it would reduce federal revenues by about $14-billion annually.
Mr. Poilievre has promised to cut back on consultants, foreign aid and corporate subsidies, but cuts in those areas are not likely to produce enough savings to cover the cost of the promises he’s made to date. Further, economists say the federal deficit is likely to be larger than forecast because of the economic impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which have prompted retaliation from Canada.
The Conservative Leader was asked Monday how he can still promise to reduce the deficit while also cutting taxes and making other new campaign promises.
“That’s a fair question, and it’s one that we’ve been spending a lot of time answering, and you’ll see that in our costed platform,” Mr. Poilievre said. “We will be cutting bureaucracy, cutting consultants, cutting back on handouts to insiders, and we will cut back on foreign aid to bring our money home to this country.”
If his party is elected to govern, he said, his approach to managing federal finances would be similar to what took place under Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.
“We drove efficiencies. We ran a lean operation. We cut out the waste. We were totally intolerant of corruption. And by the way, we unleashed our resource sector, which generated more revenue for the government without charging more taxes on the people,” he said.
Mr. Poilievre is spending the first few days of the campaign in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area, a key group of ridings where the outcome on election day can heavily influence which party forms the next government.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, who is also promising to cut taxes, said the Conservative plan will involve cuts to social programs and foreign aid.
“It’s a fundamental difference in our approach. We have a balanced approach,” Mr. Carney told reporters Monday in Gander, N.L.
The Liberals say Mr. Carney’s proposed tax cut would save middle-class families up to $825 a year.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters in Montreal on Monday that both the Liberal and Conservative tax cuts would benefit high-income Canadians.
“A tax plan that gives more to millionaires is exactly what we know the Conservatives are going to do and, sadly, that’s what Mark Carney’s plan is as well,” he said, adding that the NDP will be releasing its tax plan later in the campaign.