Canada’s wealthiest should pay larger share

By: Daniel Blaikie - Elmwood-Transcona MP Constituency Report Posted: 8:01 AM CDT Tuesday, May. 11, 2021

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/05/2021 (750 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last month’s federal budget was a mixed bag.

I was pleased to see a significant investment – $30 billion over five years – in making child care both more affordable and accessible across the country.

The pandemic has made child care even more important than ever as employers look to attract parents back to the workplace, a situation that has disproportionately impacted women.

Studies have shown that the economic benefits of easily accessible, affordable child care pay a good return on investment. Increased household incomes and the taxes paid on them help recover the costs of the program.

While a meaningful new national child care strategy has been announced, it has not yet been delivered. New Democrats are needed in Parliament to hold the government’s feet to the fire and ensure the job gets done.

It also important that we have New Democrats in Parliament to make sure that Canada’s wealthiest are the ones shouldering the cost of recovering from the pandemic.

During the past year, when so many everyday Canadians, small businesses and workers across the country struggled financially, Canada’s billionaires increased their wealth by $78 billion.

The gap between the super-rich and the average person grew sharply during the past year. Some 47 Canadian billionaires now control $270 billion in total wealth, while 5.5 million Canadian workers lost their jobs or had their hours cut in half during the pandemic’s peak.

It is possible to tax these extraordinary profits to help pay for the support that so many Canadians need to get through this pandemic.

In a recent Abacus poll, 80 per cent of Canadians agree with a wealth tax but, so far, the Liberals have failed to act. Instead, they announced a small tax on luxury cars and boats, expected to raise about $120 million per year over the next five years.

The NDP has proposed a one-time tax on excessive pandemic profits for large corporations. Charging an additional 15 per cent on any profits over their pre-pandemic earnings would, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, raise an additional $8 billion.

The PBO has also said that offshore tax havens continue to be used by the ultra-rich to avoid paying their fair share of taxes… to the tune of $25 billion every year.

If we want to rebalance the scales to make sure the wealthiest are paying their fair share, the Liberals’ little luxury tax won’t get the job done.

We need a far more serious tax reform package to rebalance our tax system so the wealthy no longer get a free ride.

New Democrats are fighting for those changes because we believe the cost of rebuilding after the pandemic should not fall disproportionately on Canada’s working people.