18. Balanced Budget Legislation
The Conservative Party believes the government should enact balanced budget legislation, which includes overrides for declared national emergencies or other defined, and presumably rare, circumstances.
19. Debt Repayment
The Conservative Party believes the government should continue to pay down the national debt, thus reducing the interest payment which is the single largest federal budgetary commitment.
We support the introduction of a debt repayment plan with the main part of budget surplus being allocated to debt repayment, in order to have a debt-to-GDP ratio well under 20% as soon as possible, thus having greater flexibility to deal with the fiscal pressure coming from the aging of the Canadian population.
20. Tax Code Simplification
The Conservative Party believes that government should simplify the Income Tax Act, remove many of the complexities that have been built up over the years and simplify the Income Tax forms.
21. Tax Relief
The Conservative Party supports both immediate and long-term broad-based tax relief. Reducing personal income taxes is a priority for the Conservative Party because it increases the take-home pay and raises the living standard of all Canadians.
We encourage the government to continue the process of reducing business taxes. Reducing business taxes encourages both foreign and domestic businesses to invest in Canada, meaning more and better jobs for Canadian workers. Lower business taxes mean more jobs as well as greater returns for pension plan members and those who own RRSPs, mutual funds and common shares.
We believe that government should reduce capital gains tax and eliminate tax on capital gains that are reinvested. Lower capital gains taxes encourage saving and investment which means more capital for Canadian businesses, more jobs for Canadian workers and bigger returns for Canadian investors. Therefore, we support new measures in which the lifetime capital gains exemption for small business owners, farmers, wood-lot operators, and fishermen were increased.
We believe that payroll taxes should not exceed the amount necessary to properly fund Employment Insurance because unnecessarily high payroll taxes are a tax on job creation. Lower payroll taxes encourage hiring and business expansion.
Canada’s tax system must be built on a foundation of fairness. In this regard, we encourage the government to continue to close loopholes such as the use of offshore tax havens which erode the Canadian tax base and allow companies to avoid paying Canadian taxes. The Conservative Party supports the concept that all taxation must be fair and be reasonable. The government should work to eliminate instances of taxation on taxation.
We encourage the Conservative Party to move to a less progressive tax system by reducing the number of personal income tax brackets.
22. Supporting Families
The Conservative Party recognizes the need to support families and children. We believe that Canada's decreasing birthrate needs to be addressed by reducing the barriers facing those wishing to start and grow their families, thus ensuring the well-being and long-term sustainability of our communities.
We support tax fairness for families by eliminating inequities between single and dual income families and introducing a deduction for dependent children.
We support the elimination of all tax disadvantages to families including those who care for children at home. This recognizes the economic value of stay at home parents, and supports the introduction of tax fairness measures such as income splitting for couples with children.
We also recognizes that many of our seniors lived on single family incomes as one parent stayed home and cared for their children. Our seniors deserve tax fairness to eliminate the discrepancy between single and dual family income in retirement.
We recognize the value of the home caregiver and supports tax relief for families who provide homecare.
23. Spending Controls
The Conservative Party believes the government should strengthen enforcement and criminal code penalties for fraud involving the misuse of tax dollars.
We believe the government should introduce a system of program evaluation to ensure that all major government spending programs are independently evaluated on a regular basis. This will ensure that programs are meeting government priorities and delivering value for money.
We believe in an effective and efficient penal system. We need to implement cost controls and income earning opportunities for individual inmates and for prison institutions to reduce the burden on the taxpayer. This will also provide job-ready skills, training and work experience for the inmates upon release.
24. Equalization
Equalization is an essential component of Canada’s nation building efforts. The Conservative Party believes that provinces and territories should be able to provide comparable public services at comparable levels of taxation; therefore, we support an equalization formula and a territorial financing formula which are fair to every jurisdiction and which promote economic growth.
25. Monetary Policy
The Conservative Party supports a stable and predictable monetary policy that creates a positive climate for investment and growth for Canada within the context of the global economy.
26. Pensions
The Conservative Party believes that company pension funds should be invested by independent trustees for the benefit of employees and should be held at arm’s length, not accessible by the company or its creditors.
The Conservative Party is committed to bring public sector pensions in-line with Canadian norms by switching to a defined contribution pension model, which includes employer contributions comparable to the private sector.