Canada’s bankers lash out at Liberals for ‘picking on’ financial services firms with new taxes

Canada’s banking industry lobby group is calling out Ottawa for targeting financial institutions and ignoring warnings that the government’s taxes aimed at extracting billions of dollars from banks and insurers will dampen lending and further stunt slowing profit growth.

The talks between the voice of the industry and the government have led nowhere, according to the Canadian Bankers Association. In an exclusive interview with The Globe and Mail, the CBA spoke out publicly on the matter for the first time since the government first unveiled the taxes in 2021. It’s a rare move by the industry group, taking aim at a government that has come under increasing fire for economic concerns and its deficit spending.

Over the past…