We’ve lost so much due to Canada’s misguided embrace of privatization in recent years, but one loss that sticks out with particular rawness these days is the sale of Connaught Labs, our once-dazzling publicly-owned pharmaceutical company.

The Institute's Program Director, Katrina Miller, was on yesterday's Danielle Smith Show to discuss the Institute's latest report, Multi-Millionaires and Fair Taxes: The Case for a Wealth Tax. The segment dives into the report and dispels myths about the Wealth Tax. Listen and share here.

Going forward, it is time the federal government be responsible for providing an adequate income security program for Canadians with disabilities, while enabling the provinces to invest in an affordable and safe supply of personal supports and care services. As a society, we’ve determined that seniors and children aren’t expected or required to participate in the labour market, paving the pathway for federal programs like the Canada Child Benefit and the Canada Pension Plan. In a post-COVID-19 future, individuals with severe disabilities should be part of this group.

We need progressive tax reform to ensure that the burden of the pandemic is fairly shared. A recent Abacus Data poll found that most Canadians agree that the fiscal burden of the crisis should be fairly shared, and that those with the most should pay the most. Indeed, 75% of respondents favoured a tax of 1-2% on large fortunes, (44% strongly support and 31% support) including 69% of even Conservative voters.

Today, only a handful of advanced economies levy an annual tax on wealth. Though inheritance taxes are still quite commonly levied on large fortunes being passed from one generation to another, the tax “burden” in most advanced economies has shifted from taxation of capital and the affluent to taxes on labour and ordinary working families over the past three decades or so.

This paper makes the case for an annual wealth tax to add to our fiscal arsenal and to achieve greater equality.