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One of the more bizarre exchanges in last Thursday’s leaders’ debate was on what should happen to the small business tax rate. All three parties agree that the rate should be reduced from 11 per cent to nine per cent, but they still managed to find a way to squabble about the proposal.

Even though the Liberals have already signed onto this agenda, the fact that Justin Trudeau has seen fit to qualify his support was enough to produce the unedifying spectacle of the three party leaders bickering about which of them was the most enthusiastic about lowering taxes for small businesses. It was like one of those TV ads for Bud Light: people in violent agreement shouting “Tastes great!” and “Less filling!” at each other.

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The leaders were less passionate about the NDP’s plan to increase tax rates for larger corporations; it is likely that neither Trudeau nor Stephen Harper saw any point in spending much energy in attacking it. It’s hard to counter the populist appeal of supporting small business and extracting more tax revenues from large corporations.