Ignatieff Tax Pledge May Hurt Investment, Myers Says

Canadian business investment needed to sustain an economic recovery is threatened by Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff’s pledge to scrap planned corporate tax cuts because companies may find it difficult to plan, the head of the country’s manufacturing lobby group said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party government has scheduled a 1.5 percentage point reduction in the corporate tax rate on Jan. 1 to 16.5 percent, and a further cut to 15 percent in 2012. Ignatieff said Oct. 5 he would cancel the reduction and spend C$1 billion ($986 million) to support people who care for sick and aged family members at home.