Chris Clegg
South Peace News
With an election brewing within the next year, Canada’s political parties are beginning to make promises in an attempt to sway voters.
Peace River – Westlock MP Arnold Viersen and the Conservative Party of Canada are promising to axe the sales tax on homes.
In a letter to the editor released Oct. 29, Viersen applauded his party’s decision.
“While it used to be normal for working class youth to buy homes, now 80 per cent of Canadians tell pollsters homeown- ership is only for the very rich,” writes Viersen.
“Back in October 2015, the month before Justin Trudeau became prime minister, it took only 39 per cent of the median pre-tax household income to cover home ownership costs. Now it takes nearly 60 per cent.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced earlier in the week he will scrap the federal sales tax on new homes sold for under $1 million. Conservatives believe the tax cut will spark 30,000 extra homes built each year. The move comes after housing costs have doubled in the nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, rising faster than in any other G7 country.
Vierson writes in some provinces, government charges account for nearly 30 per cent of the cost of a new home.
“The federal government takes the biggest share,” writes Vierson.
One such tax is the GST, adding $50,000 in costs to a $1 million home.
Viersen says the Conservatives will lobby the provinces to remove the sales tax from new home sales, which would save tens of thousands of dollars for homebuyers.
He adds Conservatives will fund the tax cut by eliminating $8 billion of bureaucratic programs the Liberals admit have not built a single home.
The 30,000 extra homes will also provide more income for construction workers and businesses, and an estimated $2.1 billion of revenue for the government.