Achi news desk-
OTTAWA –
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, despite widespread support for their plan to build millions of homes.
Just shy of half of the respondents to Leger’s latest survey said they had a negative view of the federal budget, presented last Tuesday.
Only 21 per cent said they had a positive view, and a third of respondents said they did not know or preferred not to answer.
However, 65 per cent of those polled said the plan to spend $8.5 billion on housing, with the aim of building 3.9 million homes by 2031, was good for the country.
Leger’s poll of 1,522 Canadians last weekend cannot be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered true random samples.
People in Alberta were most likely to say they had a very negative impression of the budget, with 42 per cent choosing that option compared to 25 per cent across the country as a whole.
More than half of people who took the survey said they supported the government’s plans to spend more on energy efficiency, national defense and student loan forgiveness for healthcare and education workers.
And 56 percent said they thought the increase to the capital gains tax inclusion rate — a move estimated to raise another $19.4 billion in revenue over the next four years — was a good thing.
The Liberals say the change is essential to their plan to improve generational fairness by taxing the super-rich.
It has drawn criticism, including from the Canadian Medical Association, which warned on Tuesday that it could affect the country’s ability to recruit and retain doctors.
The budget proposes to make two-thirds of capital gains—the profit made on the sale of assets—taxable, rather than half. For individuals, this would apply to profits above $250,000, but there is no lower threshold for corporations.
The medical association said many doctors will face higher taxes because they have incorporated their practices and used those companies to save for retirement.
While the Liberals are aiming capital gains tax changes at younger Canadians including millennials and gen-Zers, Leger’s poll found he has the support of 60 per cent of respondents over 55 — the highest of any age group.
People aged 18 to 35 were the least likely to support the Liberals’ plan to spend another $73 billion on defense in the next two decades. Only 45 per cent of respondents in that age group said that increasing defense spending was good for the country, compared to 70 per cent of over-55s.
Leger also asked questions about the country’s fiscal future.
Almost half of the respondents, 47 per cent, said they wanted to see the government cut back on spending and programs in order to balance the budget as soon as possible.
Only 16 percent said spending more and running big deficits is the best plan for the next five years, and 14 percent want to see the government increase taxes to bring the deficit down.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on April 24, 2024.
– The Canadian Medical Association funds a fellowship that supports journalism positions at The Canadian Press.
