Trudeau Liberals’ two-month GST holiday bill passes the House, off to the Senate

Posted on November 28, 2024 by Peggy

The federal government’s five-page piece of legislation to enact Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promised two-month tax break on a range of consumer goods over the holidays passed in the House of Commons late Thursday.

After a winding procedural process unfolded in the chamber over several hours, the Liberals’ “Tax Break for All Canadians Act” cleared all stages of scrutiny in one swift move, with the backing of the NDP.

As declared earlier in the day, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his MPs voted against what he said “isn’t a tax cut,” but rather a “irresponsible, inflationist … temporary two-month tax trick.”

“Now is the worst possible time to be blowing $6 billion trying to save Justin Trudeau’s political skin,” Poilievre told reporters on Thursday.

After expressing misgivings about the GST holiday as “a measure which is basically built on the idea that the Liberal government can try to buy votes,” Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet and his caucus also voted against the legislation.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May’s two-person caucus supported the bill, but during Thursday night’s debate, said it made her “feel queasy.”

“It’s not good policy. Whether it’s good politics, we’ll see,” said May.

The minority Liberals introduced Bill C-78 on Wednesday, revealing the decision to split up the affordability package in the face of political pressure and a ticking clock.

Focusing for now on enacting the temporary Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) pause has left the promised $250 “Working Canadians Rebate” cheques in limbo.

Ahead of the vote, Government House Leader Karina Gould said it was “a good day in the House of Commons,” but also a “good day for Canadians,” who will soon receive “a very important affordability measure that’s going to make a difference.”

“For Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, to be opposed to giving Canadians a break over the next couple of months,” Gould said. “I just think it’s really, really disappointing, and I think unfair and a bit hypocritical from the Conservative leader to be against that.”

The move to separate the two pocketbook pieces came after the federal New Democrats threatened to pull the votes the Liberals were relying on to push through the months-long privilege impasse to make the policy a reality.

“We are demanding that the Liberal government put in place a separated GST holiday first, and then fix the cheques to include seniors and people living with disabilities before we support that,” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters on Wednesday.

Reacting to the Conservatives’ opposition to the measure, Singh accused Poilievre of “bootlicking for billionaires” and “whining about middle class families saving a little money over the holidays.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office said the decision to prioritize the passage of the $1.6 billion tax reprieve – on a slate of items including children’s clothing and toys, beer and wine, restaurant and pre-prepared meals, as well as common stocking stuffers – was to ensure it could be enacted by the promised Dec. 14 start-date.

“Canadian families are going to be able to purchase a lot of the things that they would purchase over the holidays with no GST,” said Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull during Wednesday night’s debate on the programming motion to fast-track the bill.

“That is really good for Canadian families who have been challenged with the cost-of-living pressures that they have been living through.”

The workers’ rebate – which the Liberals say they do still intend to follow-through on – isn’t supposed to roll out until April, giving the government some time to find a path to pass it, as the current version doesn’t have the support of any other party.

That’s because the rebate, as it stands, would not be issued to some seniors, students or people with disabilities. Both the NDP and the Bloc have called on that to change, stating non-working Canadians should be offered the same financial relief. Though, doing so would considerably increase the cost beyond the current $4.7 billion estimate.

With the NDP helping to clear the necessary procedural path, MPs put the pair of privilege motions, that had been taking up close to all of House time for the last few months, on pause.

This let MPs focus on the GST bill, first by deliberating on a programming motion to fast-track the bill, and then the legislation itself.

When Bill C-78 came up for debate, around 9:20 p.m. EST, it was the first piece of government legislation to be debated in the House since late September. And two hours later, it became the first government bill to pass the Commons in months.

The GST bill is now off to the Senate for a second round of scrutiny. It will need to pass the upper chamber before the holiday tax break can become a reality.

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