Posts Tagged ‘tax’
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The trouble with billionaires masquerading as populists
… we’re told we live in a time of popular revolt against the “elites” and that Donald Trump just won the U.S. presidency because of his “populism.” … The real question is whether Trump and his crowd get to define and shape that anti-status quo sentiment… the two richest men in Canada — David Thomson and Galen Weston — now have as much wealth as the bottom 30 per cent of Canadians (11 million people).
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Tackling inequality begins with cracking down on tax havens
… the debate is not about whether extreme inequality is a problem but rather about how to solve it… one concrete proposal, endorsed by the authors of the Oxfam report, is likely politically saleable and has the potential to provide some the resources needed to tackle inequality: a global crack-down on tax havens and tax cheats… The costs to Canada of tax avoidance and evasion are estimated to be in the many tens of billions of dollars every year.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
We can end homelessness in Canada
The report calls for a new federal/provincial/territorial framework agreement focused on community capacity, prevention, and “Housing First” for those now on the streets… Addressing issues of poverty and social justice are regular refrains for progressives; reducing spending while more efficiently using resources are a hallmark for fiscal conservatives. Being a contributing member of society and a full participant in the economy requires an address.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, homelessness, housing, ideology, participation, tax
Posted in Inclusion Debates | 1 Comment »
Canada is doing well … but we could do so much better
I suggest (once again) a flexible HST — raise it on elective spending (luxury goods, complex financial transactions and the mere velocity of money in financial markets) to eliminate the deficit, and reduce taxes on small personal and corporate incomes to ease the conditions of the most vulnerable and provide affordable stimulus… and shift stimulus from the sterility of traditional welfare, other than where there is no practical alternative because of the acute needs of the seriously disadvantaged…
Tags: budget, economy, Health, jurisdiction, poverty, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Economic challenges test Trudeau’s promise of more progressive path
No government wants to raise taxes. But there are modest steps Trudeau could take to relieve the fiscal pressure without great political risk, both of which he has promised. The first: collect what’s owed. Canada currently loses tens of billions of dollars annually through tax evasion… The second: deliver on the promise to review tax loopholes, many of which overwhelmingly benefit the rich with no obvious public utility.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Let demise of the U.K. be our warning
Britain has privatized itself at great cost… The National Health, Britain’s medicare, is collapsing from underfunding in a nation that has already privatized its rail, gas, electricity and water… the private sector is partly or fully responsible for parole, prisons, schools, roads, hospital services, mail, welfare assessments, court interpreters and much more… Next up for outsourcing/privatization are, seriously, child protection and the law courts.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Big cities are much more unequal than Canada as a whole
… the bottom 95 per cent of Canadians received 74.9 per cent of all income in 2014, but this proportion was just 69.3 per cent in Toronto… Along with the poor, the squeezed urban middle class, especially the young, are increasingly unable to enjoy the benefits of big city life. These growing spatial inequalities will increasingly shape urban politics in the years to come.
Tags: economy, featured, participation, poverty, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Time for Ottawa to make sure top CEOs pay their fair share
… most of the compensation for the top 100 CEOs was in the form of stock options and grants of stock, which are taxed at just half the rate of regular salary or bonuses. This is an enormous tax break that costs the federal treasury an estimated $1 billion a year… runaway CEO pay highlights the broader and more serious issue of growing inequity in our economy, and all the social ills that come with it.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Why would Ottawa even consider a tax that won’t increase revenue, but hurt middle-class Canadians?
Many employers will have to choose between offering benefit plans and sustaining employment levels, and individuals will have less money to help them get through the week. In addition, taxing employer-paid health and dental benefits would provide limited savings, if any, to the federal government. Analysis… clearly shows that introducing a refundable tax credit for individual insurance would likely cost more to the treasury than the savings from taxing health benefits.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
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