John Ivison: Executive tipped as Trudeau’s pick for Finance would target wealthy to boost middle class
As mentioned in this space yesterday, the Conservative government’s best-laid jobs, growth and long-term prosperity plan has gone awry, threatening to leave nothing but grief and pain, instead of promised joy.
The oil-price collapse means we are likely to enter a general election campaign at a time of rising unemployment.
That creates opportunities for the opposition parties, but they both have work to do to convince Canadians they would be more effective stewards of the economy than the Tories.
Justin Trudeau’s challenge is to persuade voters he is not too callow to run a Group of Seven economy.
As part of that effort, he has recruited several experienced candidates with rich backgrounds in the private sector to bolster his economic team.
The man some are tagging as the finance minister in any Trudeau government is Bill Morneau, chairman of Canada’s largest human resources firm, Morneau Shepell.
He is running in the riding of Toronto Centre, where he can expect a stiff challenge from New Democratic Party candidate, Linda McQuaig, who lost by just 4,554 votes to Chrystia Freeland in a byelection 16 months ago, after Bob Rae retired from politics. (Ms. Freeland is moving to a neighbouring riding.)
Even if he falls at the first hurdle, the former C.D. Howe Institute head has already made his mark on the policies we are likely to see being rolled out in the Liberal platform.
In an interview over beer and beef tips, the 52-year-old father of four, who earned $1-million last year, proved he is a quick learner in the art of political obfuscation, cautious about revealing too much.
But my distinct impression is a Liberal government with Mr. Morneau as finance minister would do the following: increase taxes for those in the upper brackets, redistributing that money to middle-income earners; means-test benefits such as the universal child-care credit; introduce tough emission caps on provinces, while letting them devise their own climate change policies; turn on the spending taps to try to kick start economic growth by investing billions in public infrastructure, even if it meant sliding back into deficit; and be far more interventionist in education, training and business subsidies.
To start, I asked whether the Liberals would actively redistribute wealth, perhaps as a means of sparking growth.
“It’s fair to say that people in the middle class are more likely to consume extra dollars than higher-income groups. What we will do on purpose is to make sure we’re not introducing tax policies that actively advantage people who are already doing well. The obvious target is the Conservative income-splitting plan — our work suggests only 13% of people benefit and it’s the part of the population that has no need for it,” he said.
“Our goal will be to find ways to help the middle class.”
I suggested this sounded as if those in upper-income brackets would see taxes rise under a Liberal government, while middle-income earners would benefit.
“Our sweet spot is trying to find a way to make sure we can deal with tax appropriately for those in the middle class,” he said.
‘What we will do on purpose is to make sure we’re not introducing tax policies that actively advantage people who are already doing well’
“As we figure out how to do that, we have a huge advantage in that the Conservatives have decided they’re going to spend an enormous amount on the wealthy. We’re not going to spend that money. That’s a very good starting point and so, it doesn’t lead me to your conclusion that we’ll have to do more redistribution.”
Mr. Morneau suggested a Liberal government would like to clear up a tax code riddled with politically motivated credits, “but we’re going to have to make sure we don’t have an impact on people that is unexpected or difficult.”
However, he said he would personally like to see the Conservative universal child-care benefit means-tested. “The challenge with that tax credit is, obviously, that it’s given to everyone in the population, irrespective of income. I would say that, as someone who has been in successful in business, that it’s a tax credit that’s not appropriately spent on me.”
Mr. Morneau was scathing about the Harper government’s failure to buck global trends in areas like underemployment. “To say they’ve created an economy that’s resilient is a real stretch. We’ve not only done better in the past, we’ll be prudent and pragmatic in the future,”
When I asked what the Liberals would do differently in government, he talked about “significant investments” in infrastructure, such as transit and housing. He also said a Liberal government would have adopted climate change policies that would have helped ensure pipeline projects like Keystone XL were approved.
“It seems to me that, had we worked [with the provinces] on a plan over the last nine years, we would have had a significantly greater chance at talking to our neighbour to the south and convincing them of our willingness to consider climate change. The possibility of helping people in Alberta get their product to market would have been greatly enhanced,” he said.
A Liberal government would be “collaborative” in working with the provinces in setting emission targets that are “meaningful,” he said. “I think we’re much less likely to dictate than negotiate, the end result being targets that are impactful and attainable by whatever methodology provinces want.”
If he makes it to Ottawa, Mr. Morneau will bring strong credentials and private-sector credibility. Conservative zealots will predict a zombie apocalypse under a Trudeau government. The reality is nothing terribly dramatic ever happens in Canadian politics. The policies described by Mr. Morneau suggest if voters do back Mr. Trudeau, they will swap a moderately right of centre government for a moderately left of centre alternative.
National Post
• Email: jivison@nationalpost.com | Twitter: IvisonJ
John Ivison: Executive tipped as Trudeau’s pick for Finance would target wealthy to boost middle class
As mentioned in this space yesterday, the Conservative government’s best-laid jobs, growth and long-term prosperity plan has gone awry, threatening to leave nothing but grief and pain, instead of promised joy.
The oil-price collapse means we are likely to enter a general election campaign at a time of rising unemployment.
That creates opportunities for the opposition parties, but they both have work to do to convince Canadians they would be more effective stewards of the economy than the Tories.
Justin Trudeau’s challenge is to persuade voters he is not too callow to run a Group of Seven economy.
As part of that effort, he has recruited several experienced candidates with rich backgrounds in the private sector to bolster his economic team.
The man some are tagging as the finance minister in any Trudeau government is Bill Morneau, chairman of Canada’s largest human resources firm, Morneau Shepell.
He is running in the riding of Toronto Centre, where he can expect a stiff challenge from New Democratic Party candidate, Linda McQuaig, who lost by just 4,554 votes to Chrystia Freeland in a byelection 16 months ago, after Bob Rae retired from politics. (Ms. Freeland is moving to a neighbouring riding.)
Even if he falls at the first hurdle, the former C.D. Howe Institute head has already made his mark on the policies we are likely to see being rolled out in the Liberal platform.
In an interview over beer and beef tips, the 52-year-old father of four, who earned $1-million last year, proved he is a quick learner in the art of political obfuscation, cautious about revealing too much.
But my distinct impression is a Liberal government with Mr. Morneau as finance minister would do the following: increase taxes for those in the upper brackets, redistributing that money to middle-income earners; means-test benefits such as the universal child-care credit; introduce tough emission caps on provinces, while letting them devise their own climate change policies; turn on the spending taps to try to kick start economic growth by investing billions in public infrastructure, even if it meant sliding back into deficit; and be far more interventionist in education, training and business subsidies.
To start, I asked whether the Liberals would actively redistribute wealth, perhaps as a means of sparking growth.
“It’s fair to say that people in the middle class are more likely to consume extra dollars than higher-income groups. What we will do on purpose is to make sure we’re not introducing tax policies that actively advantage people who are already doing well. The obvious target is the Conservative income-splitting plan — our work suggests only 13% of people benefit and it’s the part of the population that has no need for it,” he said.
“Our goal will be to find ways to help the middle class.”
I suggested this sounded as if those in upper-income brackets would see taxes rise under a Liberal government, while middle-income earners would benefit.
“Our sweet spot is trying to find a way to make sure we can deal with tax appropriately for those in the middle class,” he said.
‘What we will do on purpose is to make sure we’re not introducing tax policies that actively advantage people who are already doing well’
“As we figure out how to do that, we have a huge advantage in that the Conservatives have decided they’re going to spend an enormous amount on the wealthy. We’re not going to spend that money. That’s a very good starting point and so, it doesn’t lead me to your conclusion that we’ll have to do more redistribution.”
Mr. Morneau suggested a Liberal government would like to clear up a tax code riddled with politically motivated credits, “but we’re going to have to make sure we don’t have an impact on people that is unexpected or difficult.”
However, he said he would personally like to see the Conservative universal child-care benefit means-tested. “The challenge with that tax credit is, obviously, that it’s given to everyone in the population, irrespective of income. I would say that, as someone who has been in successful in business, that it’s a tax credit that’s not appropriately spent on me.”
Mr. Morneau was scathing about the Harper government’s failure to buck global trends in areas like underemployment. “To say they’ve created an economy that’s resilient is a real stretch. We’ve not only done better in the past, we’ll be prudent and pragmatic in the future,”
When I asked what the Liberals would do differently in government, he talked about “significant investments” in infrastructure, such as transit and housing. He also said a Liberal government would have adopted climate change policies that would have helped ensure pipeline projects like Keystone XL were approved.
“It seems to me that, had we worked [with the provinces] on a plan over the last nine years, we would have had a significantly greater chance at talking to our neighbour to the south and convincing them of our willingness to consider climate change. The possibility of helping people in Alberta get their product to market would have been greatly enhanced,” he said.
A Liberal government would be “collaborative” in working with the provinces in setting emission targets that are “meaningful,” he said. “I think we’re much less likely to dictate than negotiate, the end result being targets that are impactful and attainable by whatever methodology provinces want.”
If he makes it to Ottawa, Mr. Morneau will bring strong credentials and private-sector credibility. Conservative zealots will predict a zombie apocalypse under a Trudeau government. The reality is nothing terribly dramatic ever happens in Canadian politics. The policies described by Mr. Morneau suggest if voters do back Mr. Trudeau, they will swap a moderately right of centre government for a moderately left of centre alternative.
National Post
• Email: jivison@nationalpost.com | Twitter: IvisonJ
John Ivison: Executive tipped as Trudeau’s pick for Finance would target wealthy to boost middle class
