O'Toole calls on Trudeau Liberals to freeze Canadian Pension Plan tax increase

A motion was put forward by Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole this Monday to stop a proposed tax hike on Canada Pension Plan (CPP) premiums which would impact the income of all Canadians at the start of next year, TrueNorth reports.

O’Toole put out a statement on Twitter calling on the government to release "concrete economic support" for Canadian businesses. "We are calling on the Liberal government to postpone the increase of CPP payroll taxes set for January 1, as well as the increase of the carbon tax and the alcohol escalator tax planned for next year," O’Toole wrote in his statement.

The statement also describes the Conservative Motion urging the Trudeau government to remove barriers to job creation, unveil details about the highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program, and to fix the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility, among other things.

O’Toole and his caucus received praise from the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB), for being opposed to the pandemic tax hike.

In a tweet, CFIB President and CEO Dan Kelly said that "Many provincial governments, led by Saskatchewan, have asked the federal govt to pause this tax hike (CPP is a fed/prov program). To date, the feds have said the CPP premium increase will go ahead,"

"And for those suggesting this rate hike is needed to pay for better CPP benefits, keep in mind that the improved payouts from CPP are phased in over 40 years. A 1 year pause in rising premiums will have no impact on benefits anytime soon."

The Canada Pension Plan rates are expected to increase by 9.3 percent in 2021, affecting the income of employers and employees. The tax increases, announced The Canada Revenue Agency back in February, are the largest payroll tax increases in 17 years.

Freezing the tax on the pension front is the second most important issue for the CFIB, behind COVID-19 and economic recovery.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has not said much about freezing the CPP tax hike, she did however say that she is looking to have the government tax the savings of Canadians.