The Tax and Spend newsletter will return from its holiday hiatus on Jan. 10.
‘Twas the week before year-end, when all through the land
No audits were stirring, not even by hand
Tax-haven returns were filed with care
In hopes the CRA would never look there
**
The Liberals were nestled all snug in their seats,
With visions of sugar plums they held out as treats;
O’Toole with his backbench, Singh with his caucus,
Had yet to recover from campaigning too raucous
**
When out in the stores, there arose consternation,
Poilievre jumped up to joust on inflation
The cost of living flew up in a flash
Too few goods to buy, or just too much cash?
**
The growth in the size of national GDP
Gave a lustre of billions to the treasury
Still, what to my wondering eyes should befall,
A fiscal update, with a giant shortfall
**
With a Finance Minister, so much cash in hand,
I knew in a moment it must be Freeland
More rapid than eagles, spending programs they came,
And she whistled, and shouted, and called them by name
**
“Now, CERS! Now, CEWS! Now hiring subsidy!
No, CERB! But stimulus! And net-zero by ‘50!
There is no debt ceiling! There is no debt wall!
Slash away? Slash away? Never at all!”
**
As oil prices that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with a shortage, mount to the sky
So up did Alberta’s revenue numbers go
Pipelines full of crude, and a royalty flow
**
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the Street
The frantic tweaking of many a spreadsheet
As inflation expectations were turned upside-down,
To the rescue Tiff Macklem came with a bound
**
He addressed all those fears, from his head if not heart
And said that his bank was doing its part
Supply chains are backed up, the governor thought
“Inflation’s transitory, but short-lived it’s not.”
**
Trudeau’s eyes – how they twinkled; his dimples – how merry!
But his take on inflation was somewhat scary
“Monetary policy, I don’t think of that much
And now the Tories say I have no common touch.”
**
On the stump, the PM had vowed spending galore
On child care and housing, he’d splash billions more
Not just to help new parents to earn
But also to ease cost-of-living concerns
**
Legault was forward-looking, quite sure of himself,
When he spoke of Quebec’s future as top-shelf
A province with no need for equalization
The goal for his semi-autonomous nation
**
Taxpayers spoke not a word, just went to work
And cashed their paycheques, but then found with a jerk
Savings were shrinking because of inflation
And with pay raises scarce, there was no salvation
**
Ottawa and the premiers needed the cash
Hopes of a tax cut they did so sadly dash
I heard them exclaim, and they seemed to be smiling:
“Happy Tax Day to all, and to all a good filing!”
Follow me on Twitter @PatrickBrethour or ask your Taxing Question here.
Sign up for the Tax and Spend newsletter here.
Patrick Brethour