Trudeau dismisses plea from doctors to reconsider capital gains tax change
CBC
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is rejecting a call from some doctors for his government to reconsider its planned capital gains tax hike.
The doctors warn that the tax change could undermine efforts to recruit and retain physicians in Canada and threaten the stability of the health-care system.
Canada is facing a severe doctor shortage. An estimated 6.5 million Canadians are going without access to primary care as family physicians retire en masse and medical schools struggle to recruit new residents to replace them.
Speaking at Wanuskewin Heritage Park near Saskatoon Tuesday, Trudeau said the tax hike presented in the federal budget only asks "the wealthiest to pay a little bit more."
"We just don't think it's right that a student, or an electrician or a teacher be paying taxes on 100 per cent of their income while others have the opportunities to use accountants and pay taxes on only 50 per cent of that income," he said.
A capital gain is the difference between the cost of an asset — a cottage, an investment property, a stock or a mutual fund — and its total sale price.
Right now, only 50 per cent of capital gains are taxable; the budget proposes to increase that "inclusion rate" from 50 per cent to two-thirds on capital gains above $250,000 for individuals.
The budget also proposes to tax two-thirds of all capital gains earned by corporations and trusts.
Canadian Medical Association president Kathleen Ross told the Canadian Press earlier Tuesday that many doctors would be be hit by the hike because they incorporate their medical practices and invest for their retirement within their corporations.
Trudeau defended the measure, saying it's about fairness.
"This is about the fact that in order for people to succeed across this economy, at all generations, we need young people to succeed, we need young people to be able to buy homes in the coming years, we need young people to be confident of the future," he said.
"So yes we are asking the most successful in this country to do a little bit more to make sure that everyone can see themselves in the success of this country."
Ross said the proposed changes would increase "financial strain" on a class of professionals who often do not have access to pensions.
"We have seen this portrayed by the government as tax fairness for every generation, but realistically, there are certain members of the population that are going to be more impacted," Ross told the Canadian Press.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.