June 1, 2021

Canada’s marine trades associations have continued working to oppose the Luxury Tax. Last week, NMMA Canada president Sara Anghel met with over a dozen Conservative Members of Parliament in an hour-long consultation co-hosted by Stephanie Kusie (Transport Critic) and the Hon. Ed Fast (Finance Critic). Representatives from the auto and aviation sectors were also present. Anghel drove home the message that the luxury tax will likely harm middle-class jobs in the recreational boating sector when consumer sales drop. She also pointed out that history shows that governments usually collect dramatically less revenue than expected from luxury taxes—such as the United States luxury tax in the early 1990s, where the tax resulted in a net loss of $8 million. Conservative MPs were highly receptive to our case against the luxury tax and asked numerous questions, such as the effect of the luxury tax on free trade agreements, the position of trade unions, and the expected economic and jobs impact on our industry. We committed to work with the Conservative Caucus to get our message across in Parliament and during committee hearings on budget legislation.

NMMA Canada also met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s senior policy advisor on tax policy, Dominic Cormier. He listened to our arguments and economic impact statistics carefully and indicated the government is open to working with our industry on the implementation details. Unfortunately, we did not receive assurances that the luxury tax would be repealed. We will continue to put pressure on the political side and point out the damage that the tax will wreak on middle-class jobs in our industry.

Fisheries and Oceans Minster Bernadette Jordon and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra held consultations with a handful of marine stakeholders to ask for recommendations on sustainability for our oceans. NMMA Canada had the opportunity to tell both ministers the recreational boating perspective including stating to them that the proposed luxury tax will have unintended consequences to residents of our coastal communities who will lose their jobs when sales decline. Minister Jordon acknowledged our concerns directly and committed to consider it further with NMMA Canada.

Moving on, NMMA Canada together with Boating BC and Boating Ontario met with the Director General and Policy Staff at Finance Canada. They will be drafting a technical paper on the tax which they will share with us for comment.

In addition to the advocacy by NMMA Canada, we would invite you as business owners to write Prime Minister Trudeau and the Finance Minister using this template letter. The government needs to hear directly from businesses across the country about the negative economic and jobs impact of the tax. The best way we can push for change is by highlighting the potential damage this tax will do to regional and local economies.

Sara Anghel, President, National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) Canada