Conservatives signal opposition to GST break, $250 checks, NDP makes support contingent on more spending

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is signaling that his party will not support the government’s proposed sales tax holiday or $250 checks for working Canadians, rejecting the first measure as too temporary to have a meaningful impact and criticizing the second as inflationary.

The NDP, meanwhile, on Tuesday made their support for the package conditional on non-working Canadians, including pensioners, students and people with disabilities, also receiving checks.

With the Bloc Québécois also demanding an extension of eligibility for payments to pensioners, the minority Liberals appear to be without a partner to pass their spending plan aimed at affordability relief — unless the government agrees to significant changes that could dramatically increase costs .

Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled the $6.28 billion plan to lower the GST, the federal sales tax, on some goods for two months starting Dec. 14. It would also send all working Canadians $250 checks in April as long as they earned no more than $150,000 in net income last year.

On Tuesday, Mr. Poilievre told reporters on Parliament Hill that the Conservatives will make their final decision on the measures at their caucus meeting on Wednesday. But before that he made a strong case against the policy, which his MPs repeated during question period later in the day.

“Our priority is not to save you 10 cents on a bag of potato chips before you quadruple the carbon tax on your heating, housing, gas and groceries,” said Mr. Poilievre referring to the GST holiday which covers things like junk. food, beer, wine, ready meals and toys for children.

What is included in the GST cuts and what is not?

“What we need is a real, common sense plan to cut red tape and waste to bring down taxes, inflation and interest rates.”

Of the $250 checks, he said, “You don’t actually increase purchasing power by printing money, borrowing cash and sending out checks.”

He also noted that Mr. Trudeau has previously argued that such benefit checks would be inflationary. Asked about those comments last week, the prime minister said circumstances have changed because inflation has cooled.

Mr. Poilievre’s counterpart in Ontario, Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford, also plans to send people $200 checks next year — a policy expected to cost $3 billion.

On Tuesday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he made his Monday request that the Liberals expand eligibility for the federal checks a condition of his party’s support for the spending plan. His office on Monday had said it was not issuing an ultimatum, but a day later Mr. Singh anticipated.

“We will not support what they presented,” he said. “I would like to see the control fixed and then we will support it.”

That demand was echoed by Liberal MP Chad Collins, who wrote on social media on Tuesday that he “cannot support an affordable package that does not include support for seniors (and) people with disabilities.”

Mr. Singh said the government should separate the two policies to ensure the VAT holiday can still take effect while more work is done to change eligibility for cheques.

In response to the NDP’s demands, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s spokesman defended the existing policy and called on opposition parties to support it.

“It would be categorically false to say that seniors and Canadians with disabilities are excluded from the Working Canadians discount,” Katherine Cuplinskas said in an emailed statement about the $250 cheques. She noted that many elderly people and people with disabilities also work.

Federal ministers entering the cabinet on Tuesday appeared lukewarm on the demands, which would significantly increase the cost of the proposed programs.

Some cabinet members, such as Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, acknowledged the government may have to make concessions to ensure it passes the House of Commons. But Citizens Services Minister Terry Beech defended the package as it stands, saying the government needs to keep the overall budget in mind.

“We have a fiscal framework that we have to stay within,” he said. “Politics is the art of the possible, but I think the package we have is very good.”

Opinion: A little holiday for VAT. One big headache for companies

Before the NDP made their demands a condition of support for the policy, Freeland declined to say Tuesday whether the government will expand the controls.

Leader of the House Karina Gould said the government is negotiating with the other political parties about the measures, but declined to discuss the status of those negotiations.

The government has already released the draft bill for its original spending bill and put a proposal on Parliament’s notice paper that would allow the bill to be quickly passed through Parliament. The earliest the proposal can be voted on is Thursday.