Liberals table GST holiday legislation, putting $250 rebate on backburner

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promised holiday consumer relief package has been split in half.

After NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said his party was only ready to help pass the two-month Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) portion of the affordability announcement, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled legislation Wednesday that solely seeks to enact that measure.

"We are demanding that the Liberal government put in place a separated GST holiday first, and then fix the cheques to include seniors and people living with disabilities before we support that," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said before question period.

• Here's a list of items that will be GST/HST-free over the holidays 

The Bill, C-78, spans just five pages and seeks to amend the Excise Tax Act "in order to implement a temporary GST/HST holiday," on a slate of items including children's clothing and diapers, beer and wine, restaurant and pre-prepared meals as well as common stocking stuffers, between Dec. 14, and Feb. 15, 2025.

This concession comes after Singh – who was briefed on Trudeau's major affordability announcement before it was made last week– walked back his full support, saying he wasn't aware that not all seniors, students, and other non-working Canadians wouldn't be eligible for the "Working Canadians Rebate."

This move leaves Trudeau's promise of a new one-time benefit payment of $250 for 18.7 million workers hanging in the balance as it too, needs legislation to be enacted. 

"People are desperate for relief, and the NDP has won a little help for them," Singh said in a statement after the bill was tabled. "A GST/HST holiday will be passed tomorrow night... The NDP also supports providing people with $250 cheques, which we will pass at a later date if the Liberals agree to include the most vulnerable people who need it." 

All eyes on the House of Commons

The NDP have said if the Liberals took this route, they would then be ready to take procedural steps needed to expedite the package through an otherwise-stalled House of Commons.

NDP House Leader Peter Julian told reporters on Wednesday that if the Liberals tabled a bill to their liking, they would help clear a path in the Commons.

"One gate is with orders of the day. The second gate would be setting aside the privilege motion for a day… The third gate would be the second privilege motion. The fourth gate is actually allowing a discussion of the special motion you've seen on the order paper. And then the fifth gate is the actual motion on the special motion itself," Julian said.

That process began Wednesday evening. Government House Leader Karina Gould tabled a motion that once approved, will allow the bill to be fast-tracked.

Debate on the motion itself is now underway, and could take some time. The Liberals and NDP have already authorized MPs to potentially burn the midnight oil and sit late Wednesday and Thursday to get this done.

The motion prescribes that just one member from each recognized party and a member of the Green Party will be able to speak to the GST bill for no more than 10 minutes at second reading. There would then be a vote.

If Bill C-78 passes that stage, it would swiftly be referred to a committee of the whole, reported without amendment, concurred in at report stage, and deemed read a third time, and passed on to the Senate.

Bloc also want eligibility expanded

It became evident over the last few days that it was not just the NDP who wanted changes to the cheques, and without another party's support, the Liberals wouldn't have the votes they need to pass that portion of the package.

Voicing similar concerns, the Bloc Quebecois brought retirees to the Hill Wednesday, to pressure the prime minister to change course, after he also snubbed the separatist party's demand for $3 billion to expand Old Age Security payments.

"We are not favourable to a measure that would give $250 cheques to people who have an income as high as $150,000… This money should be spent differently," said Bloc Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet on Wednesday.

As for the GST element, Blanchet said his caucus did not meet anyone in the last week who agreed with it.

"People, enterprises, citizens, elders, everybody seems to say this is a measure which is basically built on the idea that the Liberal government can try to buy votes," he said.

The GST and HST holiday is estimated to cost $1.6 billion, while the cheques heading to Canadians who made $150,000 or less last year, is set to cost $4.7 billion.

The Conservatives – whose privilege filibuster related to misspending by a now-defunct green technology fund has prevented much at all from getting done – have also signalled opposition to the package as inflationary, and too minor to aid affordability.

"Why don't we have a real election about taxes? He can run on his tiny two month tax trick, and I'll run on my common sense plan to axe the tax," Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in question period.  

In a later exchange, the prime minister challenged the NDP for changing course.

"We know things are tough for workers, not to take away anything from the help we're giving seniors, or youth. We want to be there for workers, and the NDP is suddenly against benefits for workers? It makes no sense," Trudeau said. 

The inability to find a dance partner to back the whole package left the Liberals in this predicament, with a time crunch on the tax break, while the rebate payments weren't promised to roll out until April. 

Compounding the pressure on the prime minister and his deputy, a few Liberal MPs also started voicing a desire for the government to go further in helping seniors, if they could afford to.

"I cannot support an affordability package that does not include support for seniors [and] people with disabilities," said Liberal MP Chad Collins on social media. 

Freeland's office has sought to assert that seniors and Canadians with disabilities are not unilaterally excluded, as many do work.