FACT CHECK: Scheer and Blanchet want a single tax return, but that would put thousands of good jobs in Jonquière and Shawinigan at risk

October 2, 2019

Andrew Scheer and Yves-François Blanchet argue that it is possible to implement a single tax return in Quebec without eliminating the 5,500 jobs of the Canada Revenue Agency across the province, including 1,200 in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and 1,500 in Mauricie.

In addition, the Conservatives believe that current CRA workers could tackle tax evasion—a plan that Union of Taxation Employees President Marc Brière has described as “completely ridiculous. Either they [the Conservatives] don’t know what they’re talking about or they are lying to the public. It’s one or the other.”

The Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois are playing politics at the expense of the CRA’s 5,500 Quebec employees—an important economic driver in cities like Shawinigan and Jonquière.

Unlike the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals will not put these jobs at risk. We have made greater investments in services. Since 2015, we have:

• invested in our call centers
• simplified tax filing with initiatives such as Auto-fill my return and File my Return
• invested in the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program
• encouraged low-income non-filers to file their returns

However, we are still open to working with Revenu Québec to further facilitate the filing of income tax returns for Quebecers.