Employment Minister Pierre Poilievre walked to a lectern in the House of Commons foyer Thursday and started to read a backgrounder from the Ontario ministry of finance on the Ontario Liberals’ “payroll tax increase”, also known as the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP).

“Yesterday, Justin Trudeau announced the latest plank in his election platform. He confirmed explicitly that he will implement Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal payroll tax increase,” he said, before delving into the backgrounder on the ORPP, which would supplement the Canadian Pension Plan.

“On page five, the Liberals point to a persona named Bonnie. They say that Bonnie, who earns $70,000 a year, would pay an additional $1,263, matched by the small business that employed her. Workers, middle class people like Bonnie, would pay over $1,000 in higher payroll taxes as a result of Justin Trudeau and Kathleen Wynne and their scheme.”

The media advisory sent by the Prime Minister’s Office earlier in the morning had suggested Poilievre would comment on the Harper government’s new plan for consultations on allowing voluntary contributions to the Canada Pension Plan — something the Conservatives have already done and unequivocally rejected, and something the Liberals campaigned on in 2011 only to reject now.

With a Conservative Party videographer in tow Thursday morning, however, crowding out some reporters, it quickly became obvious that Poilievre wasn’t going to give any additional details about the Conservatives’ plan.

That was never the point. Justin Trudeau raising taxes was the point.

“The Trudeau tax, this latest installment of the Trudeau tax, would mean over $1,000 in higher taxes for every single Canadian earning $60,000 or more,” Poilievre said.

That, presumably was the soundbite, the Conservatives wanted.

No sooner had Poilievre finished, when Liberal MP John McCallum rushed to the lectern to say that Poilievre’s suggestion that they were following the Ontario plan was “utter nonsense”, because nothing could be done to CPP without a majority of the provinces’ consent.

“What we have said for many months now is that we’re committed to working with provinces to expand the Canada Pension Plan. We cannot say what form that would take, because it requires the agreement of the federal government and two-thirds of the provinces. So it’s not the Ontario plan, it’s not the old P.E.I. plan, we’re going to start from scratch,” he said.

“And if we win government, we will negotiate with provinces and see what we can come with — we, as the federal government, plus two-thirds of the provinces. Mr. Poilievre, I’m sure, would be delighted for you to report some number that he might have said would be the cost. But I can tell you that number is total nonsense… We’re not committing to any specific plan. If we wanted to, we could not, because Ontario is only one province.”

Though they aren’t committing to a specific plan, McCallum did clarify again that the Liberals’ 2011 proposal for a supplementary voluntary CPP contributions (now the Conservatives’ plan) is “not on the table” — only expanding the CPP is.

“The basic issue is that Canadians are not saving enough and an expansion of the CPP will achieve a higher level of savings to give Canadians for revenue…in their retirement years,” he said, without explaining what happens if the provinces don’t get on board.

“A voluntary plan gives Canadians yet another option to save. We already have much unused room for RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plans).”