(October 19, 2021) – Tony Wakeham, PC Opposition Shadow Minister of Finance and MHA for Stephenville-Port au Port, says yet another regressive Liberal tax is an attack on low-income earners, not a solution to our healthcare crisis.

“The Liberals are proposing a 20 cent per litre tax on sugary drinks in Newfoundland and Labrador. Instead of making healthy options more accessible, the Liberals are choosing to implement a tax targeting low-income earners first and foremost,” said Wakeham.

“The Liberals want to tax their way to a healthy society. That’s just not how it works. We need to be ending the over 200 boil water advisories in our province to increase access to safe drinking water. We need to decrease the cost of healthy options, not increase the cost of living in our province yet again.”

Wakeham points to the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE) who raised their concerns over the regressive nature of the tax on the average consumer.

“We need to invest in healthcare measures that can inform better consumer choices, not penalize those already struggling to make ends meet,” said Wakeham.

Wakeham says he’s also hearing concerns of small business owners, and the Canadian Beverage Association, whose bottom line will take another hit as a result of this regressive tax measure.

“It’s rare that a single tax measure can hit low-income earners and business owners at once, but they’ve manage to pull it off,” said Wakeham.

“The Liberals need to scrap this tax and think about how to increase access to healthy options for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador without taking food out of their cupboards in the process.”

Wakeham will be available to discuss his concerns at 12:15 p.m. in the lobby of Confederation Building.

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Contacts:

David Maher

Director of Strategic Communications

(cell) 709-725-0984

DavidMaher@gov.nl.ca