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Rarely has total capitulation been celebrated as triumphantly as it was Monday by the Prime Minister and his finance minister in a Stouffville, Ont., pizza restaurant.

Justin Trudeau attempted to convince the nation that it was always the government’s intention to menace small businesses with the prospect of hefty tax increases, then turn around and offer an across-the-board tax-cut sweetener.

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Does he think our heads zip up at the back?

The small-business tax measures were introduced in the dead of summer with one eye on the billions in new revenue they might raise.

By contrast, the tax cut unveiled Monday will actually cost the treasury $2.9 billion over six years.

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To be fair to the Liberals, they did campaign on the reduction in 2015, as well as a pledge to ensure incorporation was not being used to reduce personal income-tax obligations.

But they promptly ditched the commitment once elected. The 2016 budget had no mention of the promised cut to nine per cent, which was “deferred” indefinitely.