Arnold Chan’s final speech in the Commons has been quoted a lot since the Liberal MP’s tragic death nearly two weeks ago — as a clarion call for better political behaviour in Ottawa.

But was it also a clue to how the Liberal government is trying to escape the ongoing furor over its tax-reform proposal?

The 50-year-old MP, who had been battling a rare form of cancer for years, stood in the House in mid-June to offer some advice to his elected colleagues. His main recommendations could be summed up in three phrases: Ditch the ‘talking points’, listen more and … be more like Elizabeth May.

On Monday in the Commons, it sounded a bit like Finance Minister Bill Morneau was trying to follow that advice — all the way to some kind of climb-down on the tax proposals that have caused such an uproar over the past month.

The hints of that came in his reply to a question from the Green Party leader herself.

May told the Commons she had been holding town hall meetings in her riding and had heard worrying reports about how the proposed tax changes to private corporations could damage the delivery of health care in Canada.

Put simply, May said, many doctors near retirement could simply fold up their practices rather than do a complete overhaul of how they set up their businesses under the private corporation tax rules.

“My question to the minister is: Can we phase-in tax changes or grandfather certain professions?” May asked.

Morneau’s reply: “We are certainly listening to people to make sure we get this right. We are making sure that, as move forward, we grandfather existing amounts, which is important.

“We will also make sure to consider how to best move forward in a way that gets to our objective while considering the ongoing goal of investing in our economy.”

What Morneau and the Liberals are trying to do now is return the tax reform project to its original intent, which was always to tamp down middle-class resentment over the perceived advantages of wealthy Canadians. What Morneau and the Liberals are trying to do now is return the tax reform project to its original intent, which was always to tamp down middle-class resentment over the perceived advantages of wealthy Canadians.

That word — “investing” — is important. It recently replaced “wealthy” as the finance minister’s go-to word in QP exchanges with the opposition. Though Chan argued against talking points, it does look like Morneau and other ministers have decided to dwell on this business of investing as the real target of the tax-reform proposals.

Morneau also seems to be signalling that the people who will be affected by his tax reform proposals will amount to only a tiny fraction of the population. A little bit more than the much-maligned “one per cent,” as it turns out — two per cent, in fact.

“What we are out doing is listening to Canadians, but we are explaining that, frankly, two per cent of these corporations hold 80 per cent of the investment income, so that is really important for Canadians to know,” Morneau said.

What Morneau and the Liberals are trying to do now is return the tax reform project to its original intent, which was always to tamp down middle-class resentment over the perceived advantages of wealthy Canadians. That turned out to be more difficult than it sounded, since it’s just as difficult to define “wealthy” as it is to define “middle class.”

But it sounds now like the government has stopped trying to demonize rich people (which would be a good idea) and instead are now focused on this “two per cent” of private corporations.

Meanwhile, May also seems to be handing the Liberals another possible escape route, sending out a release on Tuesday urging the government to consider raising the corporate income tax rate as an alternative to hiking taxes on small business. As a bonus, May pointed out, it would allow the Liberals to reverse yet another Conservative measure.

“Under Stephen Harper, corporate taxes dropped to 15 per cent, the lowest rate amongst G7 countries,” May said in the news release. “By restoring the federal corporate tax rate to only 19.5 per cent, the Liberals could follow through on their promise to lower the small business tax rate to 9 percent. The corporate tax rate in 2000 was 28.5 per cent, while the U.S. taxes corporations at 34 to 37 per cent. This is hardly an impossible proposal.”

Certainly, Morneau and the Liberals seem to be looking for a way out of the tax reform furor that is eating up far too much time and energy in the Commons, and is also threatening to cast a shadow over coming attractions in Ottawa.

Next week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convenes a first ministers’ conference. With opposition to the tax reform proposals now popping up in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Nova Scotia, the uproar seems destined only to magnify.

And even though the official period for consultations is due to end by next week, Morneau may be hard-pressed to shut things down that quickly — especially if he’s trying to assure his critics and Canadians that the government is in “listening” mode.

Last Monday in the Commons, party leaders and MPs delivered touching farewells to Arnold Chan, promising that his advice wouldn’t be soon forgotten.

Politics is a fast-moving business. What sounded like a tribute last week could be a sound crisis-communications strategy the following week: Kill the talking points and listen more … especially to Elizabeth May.

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