Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is criticizing a $15-million capital gains exemption in the federal budget, arguing it is too narrow and complex.
"Basically, I can't figure out who actually qualifies," Poilievre said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live airing Sunday morning. "I suspect no one does, and you have to be able to stand on one foot and count backwards from a thousand with your finger on your nose before you could qualify for that break."
The Canada Growth Incentive, proposed in the 2026 budget tabled Thursday, excludes businesses in sectors like agriculture, fishing, forestry, financial services, insurance, utilities, real estate, food and accommodation, arts, recreation and entertainment.
Poilievre said he views it as "insignificant and irrelevant and adds more complexity to the system." The budget states the measure is expected to bring $715 million in tax relief over four years, starting next fiscal year.
The Liberal government is touting the incentive as a way to encourage Canadian founders to build valuable companies in Canada.
The budget calls the exemption "substantial" because founders would retain nearly 96 per cent of a company's value when they exit, compared with the current 71 per cent.
The move was praised by some business groups, including the Council of Canadian Innovators, which said the incentive would create the conditions companies need to attract talent and scale.
Poilievre expressed support for the budget's productivity mega-deduction, expected to cost about $36 billion over five years, saying anything that cuts taxes on investment is "positive."
But his alternative approach would allow businesses and individuals that reinvest their capital gains back in Canada to fully defer the tax.
"And that would bring back the hundreds of billions of dollars of investment that companies and individuals have parked abroad.... I think that that would be economic rocket fuel. It would be a lot simpler than what Mr. Carney and the Liberals are proposing," Poilievre said.
He said he personally proposed the idea to Prime Minister Mark Carney and encourages him to "steal my idea because we desperately need job-creating investment in Canada."
The New Democrats have also criticized the budget's focus on business investment.
In a video statement posted Thursday, NDP Leader Avi Lewis said, "If you're a billionaire, this budget is Christmas come early."
Lewis acknowledged the budget earmarks new funds to address homelessness but said it "doubles down on shovelling more money to the biggest CEOs and investors, with the promise that all of us will be better off for it. This has never worked."
He pointed to a budget chart showing $98 billion listed as "Growth and Investment" and $48 billion as "People."
In an interview, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said affordability is "top of mind" and that the budget boosts Canada's grocery benefit, extends the suspension of the federal excise tax on fuel and includes other measures.
"So we say two-thirds of the additional revenue we're getting, we're going to put that into growth and investments so that our economy will grow," Champagne said. "But at the same time, we took one-third and we say, 'This is where we need to support people.'"
Poilievre criticized the government's borrowing, saying "government debt does not bring investment. It brings inflation, it brings stagnation and it brings failure."
"We need to get the government out of the way and off the backs of Canadians so that we can have real free-enterprise growth that pays the bills and puts food on the table," he said.
Champagne said it will take time for the proposed tax cuts and productivity measures to translate into tangible benefits for everyday Canadians.
"This is going to be making us stronger and more resilient," Champagne said.
e2gold.ca reported earlier this month that Poilievre had called for fuel tax cuts and spending restraint ahead of the budget.
This story was written by the e2gold.ca newsroom from reporting by CBC News and Yahoo News. Quotes are checked word for word against that reporting.