On Wednesday, July 3, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland quietly announced yet another cash grab from digital giants like Google, a move that will certainly cost Canadian citizens more for the digital services provided by these companies. These companies are not in the habit of swallowing costs; they invariably pass them on to the consumer.

This unilateral action by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet is a sorry attempt to cover a small portion of their reckless deficit spending by siphoning a few billion dollars from Canadians through third parties . . . namely, successful businesses that are making a profit. It is an executive decision, never debated in Parliament, but in many ways, it is similar to Bill C-18—the Online News Act—which was an attempt to extort cash from digital platform companies like Twitter and Facebook, companies that allowed users to post links to news stories. C-18 had numerous unintended consequences and resulted in Facebook disallowing news postings rather than paying the fees imposed. But then, when desperate people try to force others to cover for their own failures, one can’t expect vibrant success. Perhaps Ms. Freeland’s eagerness to tap these digital companies is the result of her envy at their ability to operate within balanced budgets, something she and Mr. Trudeau have never managed to do, in spite of their early promises.

Not content with imposing this poorly-hidden cash-grab from Canadian families already reeling under carbon taxes and inflation (devalued dollars), the Finance Minister has the gall to make these taxes retroactive. She wants these Canadians to cough up money for services purchased as far back as 2022. Think about that for a minute. Let’s say you pay $1000 rent per month (just pretend, ok . . .); then your landlord comes to you and says he’s raising the rent by $200. You’re not happy but it’s his house so you reluctantly agree. Then he says that he’s applying that increase to all your past rent back to 2022. You say, “What? We had an agreement! Not fair!”

For the Finance Minister to change the rules and demand money retroactively is just as unfair and unjust. The world changes, and we are always having to adjust to new conditions, new prices, new restrictions, new competition, new technology, etc. But to arbitrarily change the price of an item that has already been purchased is a violation of the whole concept of a contract between a buyer and a seller. When you purchase an automobile or a house or a lawnmower, you look at the price tag and decide whether the item is worth it . . . to you! When you go to the till to pay or when you sign a contract, you are not expecting the price to change. Of course, you know there will be taxes added and you expect that. You don’t expect to get a bill in the mail saying that the price of that item has been increased retroactively, that the price you paid is no longer sufficient. Please send more money.

This is more of the same from a government out of control, a government that has overspent and now wants taxpayers to bail them out. When this government seized the bank accounts of Canadian citizens in 2022—without warrant and without warning—it violated a basic principle of trust. Canadians had previously been able to put their money into a bank without worrying that it could just be frozen at the whim of the Prime Minister. That was a retroactive change of the rules of the game. Public trust and confidence in the institutions of government, the banking system and the justice system were dealt a fatal blow. Many older Canadians speak feelingly of a time when a handshake and a verbal promise were enough. Today, few major purchases are made without a contract and signatures. Apparently, for the government, even that is not enough. They feel they can change the rules any time they like.

This Prime Minister and this Finance Minister are taking Canadians down a path we don’t want to go. It would be nice if we could retroactively remove them from office, remove from them the pay raise they gave themselves in April, unspend the money they’ve wasted on their woke agenda and retroactively force them to live within their means. It would be nice if we could retroactively stop paying $125 million in interest every day and retroactively undo the damage they’ve inflicted with MAiD, the LGBT harms on Canadian children and the carbon-tax-related inflation they’ve imposed on us.

But it doesn’t work that way. The damage we’ve suffered from this government cannot be wished away. It must be voted away. Anytime you sign a contract, you must read the fine print. Voters who had their eyes open in 2015 and 2019 and 2021 knew that a Trudeau government would mean more abortion, more LGBT nonsense, more debt, higher taxes, less freedom and bigger government. For others, they had to find out the hard way. Let’s not make the same mistake in 2025.

We, in the Christian Heritage Party, believe that government should keep its word. We believe in mandatory balanced budgets, in paying down the debt, in smaller, more accountable government. Your membership and support at chp.ca will help us run a solid campaign and bring truth, transparency and common sense back to Ottawa.