Archive for the ‘Governance’ Category
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
Why Bill Morneau’s tax reform plan is politically necessary
For Trudeau, tax reform is the necessary adjunct to free trade. As he said once to the Star editorial board, liberalized trade may create wealth but it does so unevenly. The trick is to share the gains from globalization more equitably. The mechanism for doing this is tax reform. Which is why the Liberals promised, in their 2015 election platform, to take aim at tax breaks that favour the rich.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Liberals smart to push ahead with closing the tax loopholes
… the T4 nation knows the Canadian taxation field is about as level as the Canadian Rockies and they’re fed up with zero per cent income growth eroded by rising taxation loads. They don’t believe a doctor should be able to hide income by paying their kids to walk the dog. They see no fairness in letting a lawyer shield savings in a lower business tax environment to buy that monster cottage when they retire. That’s why the Liberals are smart to plug their ears and push ahead with closing the tax loopholes.
Tags: featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
New Health Minister Petitpas Taylor defends tax changes under fire from doctors
… she was the parliamentary secretary to Finance Minister Bill Morneau before she was given a ministry of her own, and has spent much time working on the tax file… now, her most pressing job may be to calm the doctors. When the proposed tax changes are fully explained, they are understood, she said. But “if there are unique situations that [doctors and others] are faced with, we want to make sure that we hear from them and that we get this right.”
Tags: Health, ideology, mental Health, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates, Health Debates | No Comments »
Canadian tech leaders warn new tax rules may hinder startups, innovation agenda
A common concern is the risk that Canada will become less competitive with the United States in terms of overall taxation, influencing corporate decisions over which side of the border to locate or expand… “We have to push back and say, ‘No, we’re going to stay in Canada.’ But you know what? If I don’t have any opportunity of actually cashing out in Canada, I will move down to the States and I’ll take all the jobs with me,”
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Closing tax loopholes a sure vote winner
… But the backlash comes from the people using the loopholes… It should worry the complainers that most Canadians with jobs, where taxes are pre-deducted at source, had no idea this was allowed. They are not just annoyed, they are incandescent… But as Prime Minister Trudeau said, “People who make $50,000 a year should not pay higher taxes than people who make $250,000 a year.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Fair Tax System Down the Drain if Loopholes Aren’t Closed
The tax benefits are significant, and the higher your income the more you benefit. First, there’s income sprinkling. The finance department presentation on the loopholes uses the example of two neighbours, both high-income earners collecting $220,000 a year. One, an employee, would pay $79,000 in income taxes. But the other, who had set up a personal corporation, could split the income with adult family members… The result would be a $44,000 tax bill
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
The tax system can’t possibly do what people want it to do
… the long hours a doctor works, the vacations a small business owner never takes, and all the rest. I’m sure all this is true but — how to put this — the tax system is not intended or designed to compensate for every hardship of life, or to weigh in the balance all of the pluses and minuses of one job versus another. It can’t possibly do so. Rather, there has long been a consensus that the tax burden should be apportioned on the basis of “ability to pay.” There’s no perfect measure of this, but income is the best we’ve got
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, participation, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
NDP needs a radical makeover
Democratic socialism is the authentic alternative to exclusionist populism. It embraces the proposition that wealth is created by those who work for a living and not by those who control capital. At a time when the division of wealth and power grows ever more unequal, the NDP needs to shift to a more radical position.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Bill Morneau should show courage on tax reform
… 60 per cent of the small-business tax break benefit is enjoyed by those who earn more than $150,000 per year… Our small-business tax regime, like many other parts of our unwieldy tax code, has been abused in recent decades, often perverted into loopholes for the wealthiest few… The intense backlash, however misguided, is a reminder of why successive governments have been so reluctant to tame Canada’s overgrown tax code
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Why the Nordic social democratic model can’t be implemented from Ottawa
… the Nordic countries… are all unitary nations without provinces, states or territories. Canada is a federation with powers constitutionally divided between two levels of government… The Nordic model isn’t just a capitalist-run economy with social programs and a progressive tax system wrapped around it. The economies of Nordic social democracies are run by a social partnership between employers and labour that by its nature creates greater equality.
Tags: featured, Health, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Recent Comments