Karina Gould, the former Liberal House Leader, called talk of a home equity tax a “rumor.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau privately met with equity tax lobbyists last month.

Political aides in Gould’s office dismissed the June 25 meeting as routine and unimportant, reported Blacklock’s Reporter.

The member of Parliament blames media reports for spreading claims based on “speculation” of the event. 

Trudeau attended an hour-long invite-only meeting in Vancouver with lobbyists who complained homeowners “reaped substantial gains in wealth.” 

Generation Squeeze for years has advocated for more than $3 trillion in taxation targeting home equity. They kept an audio recording but withheld question-and-answer sessions with the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to evade Opposition calls to release the recording of his remarks to a home equity tax lobby.

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— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) July 6, 2024

The Prime Minister’s Office has not explained why Trudeau met privately with lobbyists who sought a home equity tax. Opposition MPs have demanded the complete audio recording of the meeting.

Concerned homeowners bombarded Gould’s staff with emails, who replied: “It is commonplace for decision makers of all political affiliations to meet with various organizations and members of the public.”

“While there are changes being made to the capital gains inclusion rate,” wrote Gould’s office. “I can assure you that your home, tax-free savings and pension remain exempt from capital gains taxation.”

Capital gains in excess of $250,000 a year will increase to two-thirds from 50%. Canada has never imposed an equity tax on the sale of homesteads that are used as principal residences.

“If Trudeau goes through with this tax, the dream of home ownership will slip even further away from Canadians,” Conservative MPs said in a statement. 

Trudeau defends his controversial wealth tax hike on individuals with capital gains over $250,000.

"We're gonna make them pay a little more," he says. https://t.co/vD78U4ZuZQ pic.twitter.com/Rc5RBgrkIs

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) April 17, 2024

Trudeau in the 2021 election campaign promised never to tax home equity worth some $3 trillion in Canada. “I am happy to declare very strongly and clearly we will not be doing that,” he said at the time.

“We want to protect people who have equity in their house for many years for their retirement,” Trudeau told reporters September 8, 2021. “We’re not going to eliminate the capital gains exemption for primary residences.”

Parliament in 1972 abolished inheritance taxes that dated from a 1941 Dominion Succession Duty Act.

The Commons in 2020 by a 292 to 27 vote rejected a New Democrat motion to impose a 1% annual equity tax on assets over $20 million. Cabinet opposed the measure.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggests that many baby boomers live in oversized homes and that the government should create smaller housing options for them, which would in turn help address the housing crisis. pic.twitter.com/9KkXybxO8m

— True North (@TrueNorthCentre) July 10, 2024

However, concerns remain following June 25 comments by the prime minister. “One of the things that always comes up for me is … you have older folks living in houses that are too much for them,” Trudeau told equity tax lobbyists. 

“Their connection to the neighborhood, community means, no, they don’t want to move to the suburbs or be closer to their grandchildren… and there’s no housing they can afford to downsize other than their big house,” he continues.

The secret Vancouver meeting follows a confidential Department of Finance poll on resentment against “the rich” before cabinet legislated a capital gains tax hike on real estate profits and on stocks.

“There is a growing gap between the rich, who have become richer in recent years, and everyone else,” said the Department of Finance report Pre-Budget Focus Group Research. It found that most did not expect the economy to improve given that “wages have not kept up with inflation.”

Trudeau maintains that more apartment complexes and senior housing will provide an alternative to larger family homes. “It gives you a way out,” he said.

Chrystia Freeland attempts to defend her capital gains tax hike and warns high earners of "the wrath of the vast majority of their less privileged compatriots." https://t.co/vD78U4ZuZQ pic.twitter.com/g7Q9rObIqb

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) June 10, 2024

The Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC) reportedly paid $450,000 for a report by Generation Squeeze advocating a $5.8 billion-a year equity tax. CMHC denied any interest in the scheme.

“I was accused of lying, in fact, and a media cover-up on this,” Evan Siddall, then-CEO of the Crown corporation, testified at 2021 hearings of the Commons finance committee. “The question of tax policy is not for us. It is for Finance Canada.”

The Canadian Real Estate Association earlier said approving such a tax would be a “political funeral” for any Parliament. 

“Canadians work hard to save and invest in their homes and their future, and they expect their government to work equally as hard to find solutions they face,” said Conservative MPs. 

According to Five-Year Trends for Canada, many Canadians under 35 are unlikely to ever be able to own a home, a trajectory that is expected to “deteriorate further in the next five years.”

Cabinet “created the housing crisis by failing to build enough homes and now want to place an unfair tax on Canadians,” according to Opposition MPs.