Income inequality

In May, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden caused a small media storm when comments he made that he had no empathy for millennials who argue they face more difficult economic circumstances than previous generations circulated on social media. Biden was only the most recent public figure to weigh in on what’s become a hot topic over the past few years.

An impersonal decision-making process excludes communities whose stories need to be heard.

Solidarity has long been a standing principle of social justice advocates, but in the face of the current crisis of inequality and the concentration of power and money, solidarity is an essential ingredient of change. This was the message at a day-long workshop the Power Lab recently convened with a multitude of organizers, from public transit activists based in Scarborough to community benefits advocates based in Jane-Finch, on how to strengthen our collective fight for fair economies.

Statistics Canada has just released the Canadian Income Survey for 2017.

Though not a complete solution, the Poverty Reduction Strategy announced by the federal government at the end of August marks a step forward in Canadian social policy. It is proposed that an official Canadian poverty line be set for the first time and enshrined in legislation; that official targets be set to reduce the poverty rate by 20% by 2020, and by 50% by 2030; and that there be annual monitoring of progress towards the target.

This blog post is part of a series of posts that will be focusing on the tax avoidance by Canada’s most wealthy. This series was sparked by findings in the Paradise Papers — the latest leak that revealed the offshore tax haven activities of former Canadian elected officials and political insiders. Tax avoidance is wrong. It robs the Canadian government from paying for and maintaining our health and social programs; ones that work to improve the lives of all Canadians. A government crackdown on offshore tax havens is urgent and necessary.

There has been surprisingly little critical commentary on the 2018 federal Budget legislative proposals regarding the taxation of passive investment income in private corporations. This sorry saga has now come to an end, but with very little progress made in terms of gains in public revenues and the promotion of greater tax fairness.

This blog post is part of a series of posts that will be focusing on the tax avoidance by Canada’s most wealthy. This series was sparked by findings in the Paradise Papers — the latest leak that revealed the offshore tax haven activities of former Canadian elected officials and political insiders. Tax avoidance is wrong. It robs the Canadian government from paying for and maintaining our health and social programs; ones that work to improve the lives of all Canadians. A government crackdown on offshore tax havens is urgent and necessary.

Gender Responsive Budgeting has been trumpeted as the focus of the Liberal government budget preparation for the past two years. But how deep does the analysis go and how does it affect outcomes, especially around touchy issues like fair taxation?

Ottawa – The federal budget missed an opportunity to recover up to $12 billion in tax revenue that could be invested in  needed health and social programs, contends the Broadbent Institute.

“Tax loopholes used mainly by the very wealthy are costing us billions every year,” stated Rick Smith, Executive Director of the Broadbent Institute. “A fairer tax system that sees these loopholes closed would help us fight the inequality that’s threatening many of our communities.”

In their 2015 election platform, the Trudeau Liberals identified a number of items related to Employment Insurance (EI) that they would change: reversing the Harper EI reforms defining ‘suitable work’; reducing the waiting period for EI benefits; reducing EI premiums; introducing more flexible parental leave; providing better access to compassionate care; and increasing funding for employment and training programs managed by provinces, territories and Aboriginal labour market organizations.

The Liberal government have promised to make progressive changes to the Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB) in next week's budget.