Trudeau fails to stand up for the middle class

Liberal tax plan provides most help to Canada’s highest income earners.

Today, Justin Trudeau re-announced a tax cut that doesn’t actually help the middle class –in fact, under Mr. Trudeau’s plan someone earning $200,000 would get 150 times more than someone earning $45,000.

“Mr. Trudeau won’t help the folks who really need it, but it’s a great deal for people making $200,000 a year” said NDP candidate, Andrew Thomson (Eglinton-Lawrence). “His plan isn’t focused on the things that matter to families — and simply won’t help the middle class get ahead”.

According to the Canada Revenue Agency, 67.5 per cent of taxpayers earned less than $45,000 in 2012, the most recent year for which data is available. This means that two-thirds of taxpayers would receive no benefit at all under Trudeau’s tax plan.

“The biggest irony is that Mr. Trudeau re-announced this tax cut while standing in front of workers who won’t actually benefit from it."

Trudeau’s announcement occurred at a Toronto-area grocery store. In Ontario, the average wage for a person in food services is $22,400 per year and a retail clerk makes on average $22,100 per year. (Based on working 50 weeks a year).

That means most workers at the store he was standing in will get no benefit under Trudeau’s plan. That’s not real change – that’s no change at all.