Zero-emission vehicle subsidies and home heating tax exemptions: both fail the test

Do your homework before rushing to the microphones to announce new policies, writes Leslie Shiell.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, pictured on budget day March 19, 2019, after walking out of the House in protest over the Liberals' lack of transparency on the SNC-Lavalin affair, recently said that if his party won government, he would remove the GST from home heating and energy bills. Unfortunately, this proposal betrays a lack of understanding of the most basic principles of good policy, writes Leslie Shiell. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY LESLIE SHIELL

March 25, 2019

Two recent announcements—one by the Liberals and one by the Conservatives—show that neither party has cornered the market on bad ideas for spending taxpayers’ money. In the 2019 budget, the government announced a subsidy of up to $5,000 to encourage consumers to purchase electric-battery or h...

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