Three Conservative leadership candidates, Pierre Poilievre, Roman Baber and Scott Aitchison, revealed new commitments in interviews with the Canadian Taxpayer's Federation's Federal Director Franco Terrazzano. These included balancing budgets, cutting several taxes, and reducing the size of the federal government..Conservative leadership race frontrunner and Ontario MP Pierre Poilievre said in addition to scrapping the federal carbon tax, his "biggest priority" if elected as prime minister will be to cut income and payroll taxes for Canadians.."The reason is they punish work. We live in a country where work doesn't pay," Poilievre said..He explained that a single mother will lose 80 cents of every dollar she makes to income, payroll, and gas taxes, as well as "clawbacks of her child benefit." ."So who would work for a 20 cent dollar? It just doesn't make any sense, and so people choose to work less," Poilievre said. "The only way to incentivize more work, more hours and more output, is by rewarding hard work.".Poilievre said he favours the creation of balanced budget legislation "in principle." He said a similar bill was introduced back during former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's reign, which stipulated there should be balanced budgets outside of recessions or national emergencies.."I do agree with that proposal. It's good to have a legal principle that guides our finances. I think you need to legalize this stuff," he said..Additionally, Poilievre said he would cancel bonuses for "failing government authorities," including the Bank of Canada and CBC. Both organizations have rewarded hefty bonuses to executives throughout the pandemic, despite having, as Poilievre put it, "failed in their jobs.".Poilievre would also remove requirements for Canadians to report the sale of their homes to the Canada Revenue Agency, and he would consider bringing in recall legislation for MPs..Ontario MPP Roman Baber told Terrazzano on his first day as prime minister, he would scrap the carbon tax, repeal the "anti-pipeline" bill C-69, and defund the CBC.."It will be a very busy day," he said..He would end bailouts and subsidies for the news media, while also changing the way governments advertise in the news media.."We've seen unprecedented media biases in the last couple years. There's a real in advertising of "don't piss of the advertiser. So we need to break any financial dependency by media on government," he said..Baber also recommitted to ending equalization by the end of his first term, as he argued it discourages provinces from working hard and developing their natural resources..He would use the savings from equalization to cut taxes by increasing the personal basic exemption amount, which he believes would give $800 savings per year for every taxpayer..If elected prime minister, Baber would also reign in the federal government's "ballooning bureaucracy."."I think we need to revisit, generally, the way government does business and spends. And I think we need to not be afraid of a serious conversation with the public sector unions," he said, adding he's concerned many young people "don't want to work or succeed anymore, as they just want a cushy government job and to work at home.".Ontario MP Scott Aitchison said he would scrap the carbon tax, but wouldn't commit he wouldn't place it with another form of carbon tax..He floated the idea of "having the major polluters pay specifically, and using that money to reduce assist in reducing the footprint of those major emitters.".Aitchison said he believes the federal government needs to get its "fiscal house in order" and stop printing money.."There's simply no need to be deficit spending right now to stimulate the economy when he economy is firing on all cylinders and you can't find enough people to work," he said..Aitchison said he would also cut income taxes, reduce the size of Canada's bureaucracy, cancel Canada's firearms buyback program, and end media bailouts, but not "completely defund the CBC."
