The issue of income-splitting is a
divisive issue for the Harper Government. It may have caused former Finance
Minister Jim Flaherty to resign when he publicly crossed the line and
Prime Minister Stephen Harper over the issue.
The Harper Government promised in the
2011 election to introduce income-splitting as a means of assisting
families. Jim Flaherty believes the policy divides conservative MP's
and he understands it will benefit mostly the rich and do little to
assist low-income and middle-income families. Further, he
understands it will come at a great expense to the Harper Government.
Flaherty was only a year away from
introducing the Harper Governments' first balanced budget and
understood income-splitting would take the Harper Government right
back into debt with more deficit budgets.
According to the C.D. Howe Institute,
85 percent of Canadian households would gain nothing from the
measure. Benefits for the remaining 15 percent of Canadian families
are more likely to go to the more wealthy single-income households.
It is likely the Harper Government will partly backslide on their election promise as it is more costly now than
when they made the promise. The Harper Government's income-spitting
promise is projected to cost 2.7 billion and benefit mostly wealthy
family households. It was only to come into effect when the
government was able to balance their budget and that is expected to
come in 2015 just before the next federal election.
The federal liberals are targeting the
middle-class and may come up with a more effective policy that trumps
the Harper Government's promise and provides benefits to more voters
who are not considered the rich. The great divide between the rich
and not so rich is a challenge to all political parties as the next
federal election nears.
Whatever the Harper Government promises
will be on borrowed money as Prime Minister Harper now reigns over
the worst national debt in Canadian history. It is evident he has
not managed our economy, but has indebted future generations for
decades to come. It seems Prime Minister Stephen Harper has done a
good job of driving young voters to Justin Trudeau and the liberals.
Who wins the middle-income voters may
well win the next election.
