Freeland presents capital gains proposal to Parliament, setting up key vote

Chrystia Freeland presented her promised capital gains proposal to Parliament on Monday, setting the stage for a key vote as the Liberals try to wedge the Conservatives on the contentious tax proposal.

Chrystia Freeland presented her promised capital gains proposal to Parliament on Monday, setting the stage for a key vote as the Liberals try to wedge the Conservatives on the contentious tax proposal.

Though what's known as a "Notice of Ways and Means Motion," the deputy prime minister and finance minister has given her colleagues in the House of Commons a head's up that they'll soon have to weigh in on the plan to increase Canada's capital gains inclusion rate. It's expected MPs will be asked to approve this motion — which contains the legislative details of the coming tax changes that will result in raking in billions in new federal revenue — on Tuesday.

Freeland deliberately opted to leave this measure out of the bigger budget implementation bill, and instead move it through Parliament on its own timeline. While defending this path as nothing out of the ordinary, Freeland said taking a separate vote on this significant of a "political" decision is appropriate.

"We do you think this is an important time for our country. It's an important time because we need investments, and it's an important time for us all to take a stand on how we feel those investments should be financed… I do think this is a moment when Canadians should be watching closely what happens in the House and watching closely to see how all MPs vote on this," Freeland said. 

Though, by doing so the government is also forcing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's caucus to take a clear stance on whether they support making the wealthiest Canadians and businesses pay more. It's an effort to pin down their main opponents on a key cost-of-living topic. Asked Monday if his party was ready to make its position clear, a Poilievre spokesperson said the Conservatives needed more time.

"Conservatives will study the motion very carefully before determining next steps," said Sam Lilly in a statement to CTV News, citing the procedural "chaos" and delay around legislating on this measure. 

According to Finance Canada, the associated draft legislation won't be released until July, meaning that with a more than two-month summer parliamentary hiatus, it'll be fall before the bill starts moving.