When John Penrose visited Canada this year to address a global anti-corruption summit, he brought some advice for his host country. The U.K. member of parliament told government representatives of a powerful anti-corruption tool that would cost less to implement than paving a few kilometres of road.
Government finance
Corporate income tax has long been a leading provider of government revenue. Unfortunately, large sections of the media and policy-making community have accepted the notion, propagated by both the business lobby and neoliberal ideology, that corporate tax is a detrimental, inefficient and growth inhibiting tax. Tax cuts, on the other hand, are said to encourage investment, create jobs and increase productivity. There is strong evidence that neither of these widely held beliefs are true.
Illustration by Michael Haddad
Taxes are the foundation of a healthy democracy. They fund the public services we depend on every day: roads, schools, community and social services, health care, justice, environmental protection and much more. But over two decades now, governments have undermined the progressivity of our tax system by cutting corporate and top income tax rates and letting tax loopholes proliferate. The top 1% of Canadians by income now pay a lower overall rate than all other income groups, including the poorest 10%.
Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives, led by Premier Brian Pallister, won the provincial election on September 10, albeit with a slightly smaller majority than they had going into the campaign. We can expect the government to continue on its path of “fiscal responsibility,” i.e., budget cuts and austerity.
In this issue:
Cleveland Model graphic taken from community-wealth.org.
Photo taken from the Liberal Party website.
The pollster Nik Nanos claimed in June that climate change would be “one of the defining battle grounds” this election. “More important than jobs, more important than health care, more important than immigration.” In July, Abacus Data put climate change in third spot behind health care and cost of living, the latter an important issue (with the environment) for the two-thirds of voters from the millennial and gen-X cohorts.
This report examines how Nova Scotia’s protections for workers compared to other provinces and territories in Canada.