Allan Bush
October 04, 2021
Money Education Financial literacy Economy Good readsDid the 2021 Federal Election Affect Your Investments?
The whirlwind of the federal election has come and gone. And as much as it was a brief period between the call for the election and the election itself, it still managed to cost taxpayers over $610 million. We saw the second-lowest voter turnout in modern history at just over 60%, and polls suggested that a large majority of Canadians didn't understand why an election was called and felt it was unnecessary, according to the Globe and Mail.
Did the election affect your financial affairs and your portfolios under our care? The short answer is no. Most of the Liberal's intentions are already in place from the April '21 budget, and anything new will have to make it through the parliamentary gauntlet to be enacted. Should the proposed new minimum wage of $15 per hour come to pass I would expect to see that cost passed through to the consumer at virtually every retailer you frequent.
If passed, some of the new initiatives include:
The new First Home Savings Account may help give our children a fighting chance of purchasing a home at some stage.
A promise to provide $3 billion over five years to ensure provinces and territories provide a standard of care in their long-term care homes.
An increase to the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors by $500 for singles and $750 for couples and double the Home Accessibility Tax Credit from $750 to $1500 to help keep seniors in their own homes.
A plan to provide a taxable $500 payment for Old Age Security pensioners at least 75 years of age as of June 2022 and increase the maximum benefit by 10%.
Whether or not any of these new initiatives make it to the light of day will be primarily dictated by the NDP at this stage as they seem to hold the power or the ability to make or break a majority parliamentary vote outcome.
So, for now, we will see how things progress, but according to iPOLITICS, Trudeau has already stated that he would try once again for a majority in 18 months if he didn't get one this go around.
In conclusion, the order of the day is that the status quo is maintained with the prospect of a repeat performance all too soon.