Garneau says tax breaks needed to boost economy
TORONTO — Liberal leadership hopeful Marc Garneau positioned himself Wednesday as a business-savvy candidate with a package of focused tax cuts he says are needed to help Canadians and the economy reach their full potential.
Garneau unveiled a policy-heavy economic platform that says Ottawa needs to steel itself in the face of global challenges by taking precise steps to bolster innovation and tackle weaknesses in the economy.
The Montreal MP told a Toronto business luncheon he’d put in place targeted tax measures to get more people in the country employed in skilled, future-proof work, reversing what he called a return under the Conservatives to the “colonial past” of raw natural resource exports.
The former astronaut said Canada must be on the “leading edge of discovery” in science and technology to prosper in the 21st century.
“What I want to do is to make Can- ada a country where there are better opportunities for Canadians in terms of jobs (and) a more creative and competitive economy,” he said.
His platform calls for capital gains taxes to be eliminated for Canadian entrepreneurs, payroll tax breaks for small and mid-sized businesses that invest in employee training as well as firms that hire students in skilled jobs. It also includes measures to help recent immigrants find work in line with their field of training.
Garneau also chided the business sector for failing to take risks and invest in research and development.
The solution, he said, is not “more government handouts” but giving businesses more incentives to grow.”
A government official should not be making the decision where to invest. It’s the experts ... the innovators themselves that know best.”
The platform rollout follows Garneau’s pledge Monday to allow greater foreign involvement in the country’s wireless market.
Garneau on telecoms, Page A25