tax

Tuesday May 17, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday May 17, 2022

Ontario NDP plan to run deficits for 6 years and cancel gas tax cut

May 10, 2022

Ontario’s New Democrats are pledging to run larger deficits than the Progressive Conservatives and Liberals if elected and would likely not balance the budget for six years, but the party is eyeing some cost savings from cancelling a gas tax cut.

That pledge is expected to save $600 million in the first year by reversing the Progressive Conservative government’s move to reduce the provincial portion of the gas tax by 5.7 cents a litre for six months starting July 1.

Catherine Fife, who has served as the NDP’s finance critic, presented the costing Sunday and acknowledged the high cost of living, including rising gas prices that have topped $2 a litre, but said the temporary cut from the Tories is just a “gimmick.”

“We are looking for a long-term, sustainable strategy to alleviate gas prices, but also to stabilize,” she said, pointing to the party’s promise to regulate gas prices.

April 27, 2022

“When I’m talking about these things at the door, people say, ‘Well, why isn’t the government addressing the core issue, instead of, you know, $12 a month or covering the cost of half of a gas tank?”‘

Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said the promise means the NDP “is abandoning the middle class.”

The Liberals have not promised to cancel the planned cut and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath tied them and the Progressive Conservatives together in a tweet suggesting the money is better spent on public services.

“(Progressive Conservative Leader Doug) Ford wants to take $600M from hospitals and schools to line the pockets of his big gas buddies,” she wrote. “Now Del Duca wants in. I guess they’ve got buddies in common.”

New sources of revenue in the NDP costing released today include gaining $$1.9 billion by year three from raising the capital gains inclusion rate from 50 to 100 per cent on corporations, except for small businesses, and people with a net worth of over $3 million — with a primary residence exemption in place. (CBC) 

 

Thursday January 13, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January 13, 2022

Quebec to impose a tax on people who are unvaccinated from COVID-19

June 17, 2021

Quebec is announcing it will impose a health tax on Quebecers who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Quebec Premier François Legault made the announcement in Montreal on Tuesday afternoon, as the number of pandemic-related hospitalizations continues to climb.

“A health contribution will be charged to all adults that don’t want to get vaccinated. We are there now,” he said.

Legault said he felt the ire of the vaccinated towards the unvaccinated, whom he blamed for clogging up the province’s hospitals.

Only 10 per cent of the population is unvaccinated but they make up 50 per cent of patients in intensive care beds, according to the premier.

On Tuesday the province reported an increase of 188 patients with COVID-19 for a total of 2,742. Of those, 255 are in intensive care.

Tuesday November 7, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday November 7, 2017

Paradise Papers Are Another Hit to Justin Trudeau’s ‘Middle Class’ Agenda

There is a storm blowing in from Paradise. Documents leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reaffirmed what most of us already at least suspected: that the wealthiest among us have an elaborate shadow network of financial infrastructure in offshore tax havens to skimp taxes in their home countries. In short, rich people are playing by different rules.

September 22, 2017

The Paradise Papers are noteworthy for two reasons. The first is the magnitude. The leaked documents come from offshore tax firm Appleby, corporate service providers Estera and Asiaciti Trust, and business registries of 19 tax jurisdictions. They concern about $10 trillion (USD) overall, which is quite a lot of money considering that total gross world production for 2014 was about $78 trillion. We are talking about the global high rollers table here.

The second is that they meet CanCon requirements. Over 3,000 Canadians were named in the leaks, and some of them have connections to the commanding heights of the House of Commons. Even our beloved head of state Elizabeth II was named in the papers. Her Majesty’s estate has millions of pounds tied up in a rent-to-buy retailer accused of preying on the poor, which is a shock because the hyperexploitation of unlanded labourers is not something you associate with a feudal monarch.

April 6, 2016

The real meat of the report is how many of our former prime ministers are enmeshed in the financial heart of darkness. Leaked memos reveal Paul Martin’s former company Canada Steamship Lines is one of Appleby’s biggest clients, and Jean Chretien is listed as the owner of 100,000 stock options in an East African oil company ever having a bank account outside of Canada, and says he doesn’t know about the stock options.) And lest anyone suggest this was a Liberal family affair, it turns out that Brian Mulroney sat on the board of the company that facilitated the largest arms deal in British history to Saudi Arabia.

Juicier still than the has-beens on the list is the revelation that Liberal fundraising bigwig Stephen Bronfman has not only amassed nearly $60 million in a shadowy offshore tax haven, and that the law firm representing Bronfman had been instrumental in lobbying the Canadian government against cracking down on overseas tax evasion. Coming on the heels of two months of a taxation trainwreck—and a grueling few weeks exposing just how comfortable Justin Trudeau is with plutocracy—this is not a good look for the prime minister. Again, we reiterate: the optics certainly make it look like the extremely rich people around the federal cabinet table don’t actually have the best interests of the “middle class” at heart. (Source: Vice) 

 

Friday September 22, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 22, 2017

Bill Morneau, Justin Trudeau left untouched by proposed new tax rules

The proposed new small business tax changes do not impact family trusts or numbered companies, used by Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to shield their family’s vast fortunes.

April 6, 2016

Trudeau’s personal wealth, which was inherited from his father, is held in numbered corporations. And Morneau has money in a family trust and numbered corporations.

The NDP took direct aim at Morneau who argued that the Liberals are going after wealthy people who try to use small-business structures to avoid paying taxes, but would not respond to questions about his family businesses and why the new rules leave out the sheltering of funds for both Trudeau and himself.

April 5, 2016

Morneau is the beneficiary of a number of Canadian companies on one hand, and on the other states “we also want to make sure that we do not have a situation where some people that are, frankly, very well compensated, pay a lower tax rate than others,” said Trudeau. (Source: Global News) 

 

 

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Friday September 15, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 15, 2017

Bill Morneau pushes back on ‘misinformation’ coming out about proposed tax changes

With Parliament due to resume sitting next week, Finance Minister Bill Morneau is digging in on his proposed tax changes and mounting a campaign against what he calls misinformation about it.

March 23, 2017

The tax changes have been the hot topic of discussion at the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland, where cabinet ministers met for three days this week to prepare for the fall sitting.

It’s not just business groups and opposition Conservatives who’ve been blasting the government in the media; Liberal MPs are increasingly speaking up about their concerns with the proposed changes, including finance committee chair Wayne Easter, who told the Globe and Mail the communication strategy around the reforms was “god-awful.”

Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball told cabinet ministers on Tuesday that there’s a “disconnect” between what the government intends and what the public believes about the changes.

In an interview with the National Post, Morneau said he knows people need more information, and he’s working on getting it out ahead of the Oct. 2 deadline on the consultation process.

November 2, 2016

He said once the consultations are done, the government will consider tweaks to prevent “administrative problems” or other unintended impacts down the road.

Asked if he’s worried that the furor over the changes will put a chill on people thinking about starting a business, Morneau said his emphasis is on protecting investments in active business operations.

“Anything we hear that will discourage people from making investments in their active business will absolutely be taken into consideration,” he said. “Again, our goal is to make sure that people have the opportunity to invest and the incentive to invest in their business.”

He said his government is constantly looking at options for small business incentives. “I don’t have anything to announce right now, but that’s something we are always looking at,” he said. (Source: National Post) 

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