Minister calls GST holiday, $250 cheques for 18 million Canadians 'a targeted approach'
CTV
Women and Gender Equality and Youth Minister Marci Ien is calling the federal government's proposed GST holiday and $250 rebate cheques a 'targeted approach' to address affordability concerns.
Women and Gender Equality and Youth Minister Marci Ien is calling the federal government's proposed GST holiday and $250 rebate cheques a "targeted approach" to address affordability concerns.
"This is a targeted approach to the holidays, and that's what this is about," Ien told CTV Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday.
On Thursday, the federal government announced a two-month Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) break on a variety of essential items and consumer goods that will apply across the country between Dec. 14 and Feb. 15.
In April, the Trudeau government also plans to send a "Working Canadians Rebate" to Canadians who make $150,000 per year or less. The government's own estimation is that 18.7 million Canadians will qualify.
Both measures will cost the federal government a combined $6.3 billion and have the support of the NDP to move ahead.
The relief measures are a major reversal for the Trudeau government, which has previously advocated for more targeted cost-of-living supports and spoken out as recently as May against rebate cheques, describing them as inflationary.
When pressed by Kapelos over whether a rebate to Canadians who make $150,000 or less can be qualified as targeted, Ien said, "It is with regard to the middle class."
