Harper pledges ‘tax lock’ legislation
RIVIERE-DU-LOUP, QUE . • Stephen Harper is making a promise to keep his promise.
A re-elected Conservative government would introduce so-called “tax lock” legislation that would prohibit increases to federal tax rates, Harper said Friday.
“This new legislation will protect our fragile economy and guarantee reduced taxes and stable incomes for our families,” he said.
The gesture is symbolic, enshrining in law what Harper has already repeatedly promised and allowing him to say other parties — should they form future governments — would have to break the law in order to raise taxes. The Liberals have promised to increase taxes on the wealthiest one per cent, while the NDP want to raise the corporate tax rate.
Another government could also just repeal the legislation.
So if Canada finds itself with a minority Conservative government after Oct. 19, would Harper let the other parties topple his new government over it, perhaps plunging the country into another election? Harper wouldn’t say.
“I’m not going to get into discussing hypothetical situations,” he said with a smile.
The “tax lock” is a direct lift from British Prime Minister David Cameron’s re-election playbook.
It also bears the fingerprints of right-wing campaign consultant Lynton Crosby, an Australian who is working with the Conservatives. Crosby is credited with having helped secure election victories for Cameron and former Australian prime minister John Howard.
Harper’s legislation would prohibit increases to federal personal and business income taxes, sales taxes and “discretionary payroll taxes” such as employment insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.
The Conservatives say the law would still allow them to close tax loopholes and address “tax avoidance schemes.”
Asked if there would be any consequences to a government breaking the “tax lock,” Harper didn’t name any — beyond the political. “There are particular consequences for Conservative governments because people expect Conservative governments in particular to keep taxes down, but when you make a commitment there is a cost to breaking that commitment that’s very high,” he said.
“I could cite a former president of the United States around that, but I won’t get into that particular discussion.”
That appeared to be a reference to George Bush, the oneterm U.S. president whose famous 1988 promise — “Read my lips: No new taxes” — was broken in 1990 and came back to haunt him in 1992.
Harper made political hay Friday with the Finance Department’s monthly fiscal monitor, which showed Ottawa’s surplus after four months of the 2015-16 financial year was about $5.2 billion. “We have yet another contrast between our Conservative economic action plan and the reckless spending promises of the Liberals and NDP,” Harper said. “We are well on track for the second balanced budget in a row at the federal level.”