Pierre Poilievre's Guide for Telling Lies

As a housing and homelessness researcher I tend to be on top of policy proposals and legislation as it relates to housing. That's why I was rather surprised to an article in the Winnipeg Sun defending a post by Kevin Klein where he had suggested that the Liberals were considering a home equity tax:

KLEIN: Liberals eye home equity tax while Canadians shout ‘fake news’ and hurl emojis

The Liberal government wants to tax your home equity. Instead of facing facts, readers resort to hashtags and name-calling. Read more.

Winnipeg SunKevin Klein

The post that Klein is referring to is this one:

The Next Liberal Tax May Be on the Roof Over Your Head

There’s a hard truth that Canadians need to wake up to, especially homeowners: the government is broke.The numbers don’t lie. Federal debt has more than doubled since 2015, climbing past $1.2 trillion. Interest payments on that debt are now larger than what Ottawa spends on health care transfers to the provinces. They’ve run out of room to borrow without consequences. They’ve run out of excuses. And now, they’re running out of people to tax—except you.If you own a home, particularly if it’s paid

Kevin KleinKevin Klein

In it he presents the idea of a home equity tax and ties it to Mark Carney and the Liberal government. He says, "If the Liberals retain power, with Carney at the helm or not, they will need cash fast. Their only option is to start treating Canadian homeowners not as citizens, but as balance sheet solutions." In the very next paragraph he both counters claims that this is imagined, while again suggesting that this is going to happen, "This is not about fearmongering. It’s about pattern recognition. This government has spent beyond its means, taxed beyond reason, and blamed others for the consequences. They are not about to change course. They are about to double down."

So where does this whole idea come from? And why hadn't I seen this actually present in any Liberal platform if it's true? Well, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, a separate crown corporation and not a direct federal department nor a partisan body, funds a variety of explorations into housing affordability. These are contracted out and dozens of housing reports are produced each year. The one in question is an analysis from Generation Squeeze:

https://www.gensqueeze.ca/price_on_housing_inequity

Generation Squeeze is a charitable organization setup to try to address not just the issue of housing unaffordability, but how housing unaffordability is massively skewed in negatively impacting younger generations while enriching older ones (NOTE: I say this as myself a homeowner benefiting from housing prices). The report they created on home equity taxes was shared with CMHC and various government housing folks including the Minister of Housing. This is one of dozens (hundreds) of reports they receive and no action was taken on the report.

So to be clear, a charitable organization wrote a report funded by a crown corporation and that report was shared with lots of folks including Liberals. Klein is now suggesting this is inevitably going to be Liberal government policy. Klein's position now shows in the Winnipeg Sun. And where does it show up next? In several comments from Poilievre:

Poilievre vows not to impose a home equity tax as Liberals, NDP talk health care

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is claiming the Liberals will impose a tax on Canadians’ home equity if they’re re-elected as the federal election campaign enters its final week. The last day of advance voting in the general election saw federal leaders scattered across the country, pitching plans on homebuilding and health care. Poilievre was in […]

CityNews TorontoMeredith Bond

Poilievre never states this in a way that is absolutely objectively disprovable, such as "The Liberals have said they will impose a home equity tax." But rather, slightly hedges his comments as, "“What happens when the finance officials tap them on the shoulder and says, ‘You’re out of money, you need to go find more?’ Well, they’re going to go out and they’re going to tax your home equity. They’re going to go after your house." He takes an idea circulating the conservative social media and presents it as a truth about Liberal strategy.

This pattern of right-wing writer -> mainstream media -> Pierre Poilievre is the same that is used by Donald Trump and other right-wing populists. Take speculation, get into into a supportive corporate news source, then the leader presents it is real. That's how Poilievre gets away with telling lies.