No Taxation Without Representation
Update - 24th March
In case you missed it yesterday, Justin Trudeau proposed a new law that would give the federal government the power to tax Canadians, without Parliament being able to have any say or exercise any scrutiny over the Prime Minister and his cabinet.
Worse still, they propose to give themselves these powers until 2022! Why?!
(You can scroll down to read yesterday's post about the law).
Today, Justin Trudeau has announced that the law will not include Part 2 - the ability for the government to raise taxes without approval by Parliament.
Don't be fooled... this is only a minor change.
The legislation still includes numerous other provisions that allow the government to make all sorts of decisions without oversight by our elected officials, including the ability to spend as much money as they want, on anything urgent (and of course they decide what is urgent!)
In many ways, this feels like the classic trick that politicians always use where they propose something so obviously objectionable only to 'compromise' on what they wanted all along.
Meanwhile, after the 'compromise' everyone relaxes and allows the remainder of the proposal to go ahead unscrutinized.
We can't allow that to happen.
Even with the removal of Part 2, this would still be an incredibly draconian and anti-democratic law, previously unimaginable in Canada.
Of course, in these unusual times, certain accommodations should be made to ensure that our democracy is able to function without putting Members of Parliament, staff, and citizens at risk!
But, these accommodations should not including suspending the Legislature entirely and ceding power to Cabinet for literally years.
You can't maintain democracy by suspending it!
Groups in every province of Canada are sharing this petition and it has already received more than 8,000 signatures, even though we only launched it late last night.
Please add your name, and then pass it on to as many friends, family, and co-workers as you can.
No Taxation Without Representation
Justin Trudeau and his minority Liberal government in Ottawa have just announced an astonishing and outrageous power grab.
The minority federal government intends to introduce a law giving them unilateral power to make changes to government spending, to raise taxes, and to implement all sorts of measures *without Parliamentary approval* until 2022!
Their excuse is that they need these powers to be able to deal with the current COVID-19 emergency, but if that is the case, why on earth would the power last until 2022?
As Global News reports:
The legislation grants Finance Minister Bill Morneau extraordinary new powers to spend, borrow and tax without having to get the approval of opposition MPs until December 2021.
The Canadian Constitution enshrines taxation as a power of the parliamentary branch.
Because of that, granting those powers to the federal cabinet alone is highly unusual – even the Emergency Powers Act does not do so.
This is almost literally the definition of taxation without representation.
For context, the Income War Tax Act of 1917 was the law that first introduced the income tax as a temporary (ha!) wartime measure.
But even the Income War Tax Act of 1917 was presented to and approved by the House of Commons!
This law would give the federal government the power to tax Canadians, without Parliament - those entrusted with representing the people - being able to have any say or exercise any scrutiny over the Prime Minister and his cabinet.
This is made even worse by the fact that the current government is a minority government that doesn't even command a majority in the House of Commons.
Justin Trudeau and the minority Liberal government must immediately drop their plans to grab sweeping powers to unilaterally spend money and raise taxes without Parliamentary approval until 2022!
We've partnered with groups across the country to launch an urgent petition to stop this outrageous power grab.
Please sign the petition and then spread the word to Canadians right across the country.
It's not to late to stop this!
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