Mulcair’s NDP won’t help middle class Canadians

July 20, 2015

TORONTO – After 10 years under Stephen Harper, only Justin Trudeau has a plan for real change to grow the economy, help the middle class, and bring back fairness, said Liberal MP Adam Vaughan.

“Justin Trudeau is clear that two of the biggest priorities for any Prime Minister should be growing the economy and unifying the country, and he is offering the new leadership and a plan for real change to do just that,” said Mr. Vaughan. “Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Thomas Mulcair’s NDP; scratch the surface of their policies and it is obvious the NDP is more interested in reopening messy constitutional debates than helping Ontario’s middle class families.”

Five NDP policies that will not help the middle class:

1. The NDP opposes Justin Trudeau’s plan to save middle class families up to $1,350 per year by cutting the middle class tax bracket.

2. The NDP opposes Justin Trudeau’s plan to create the Canada Child Benefit, which is income-tested to increase support for low- and middle-income families. By sticking with Harper’s plan, the wealthiest Canadians will continue to benefit most under the NDP.

3. The NDP opposes Justin Trudeau’s plan to ask Canada’s top one percent to pay a little more so the middle class can pay less.

4. The NDP’s child care subsidy is not income-tested, and will deliver the largest benefit to high-income parents.

5. The NDP’s so-called “federal minimum wage” is deliberately misleading – it would only apply to less than one per cent of the Canadian workforce.

“Instead of helping the middle class, Thomas Mulcair is focusing on messy constitutional debates and pandering to sovereigntists,” said Mr. Vaughan, referring to widely published comments in June when, according to the Toronto Star, Mulcair “promise[d] to make it easier for Quebec to separate. Under current federal law, a province can begin the secession process if a ‘clear majority’ votes for separation. The NDP would allow secession talks to begin if a simple majority of 50 per cent plus one voted to separate.”

“These are the NDP’s own policies, their own words. Thomas Mulcair’s child care proposals overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Canadians. The NDP opposes Justin Trudeau’s plan to give a tax break to middle class Canadians by asking the top one percent to pay a little more,” said Mr. Vaughan. “Only Justin Trudeau has a plan different from Harper’s – a plan for real change to restore fairness for the middle class and ensure Canadians have money in their pockets to save, invest, and grow the economy.”

The Liberal Plan:

• We will give families more money to help with the high costs of raising their kids.

• We will give middle class Canadians a $3 billion tax break, by making our taxes fairer.

• We will cancel Harper’s new income splitting – which only helps a small minority of families – and other tax breaks and benefits for the wealthy.

• Learn more at: www.realchange.ca