Canada’s Ministry of Finance says it’s aiming to make everyone pay “their fair share of tax” but is not committing to an elevated tax on energy companies who are reporting sizeable windfalls while consumers feel pinched at the gas pumps.
The ministry’s statement comes on the heels of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres sharply criticizing the world’s energy companies for making a profit at the expense of the poor.
On Wednesday, Guterres said the world’s top energy companies made $100 billion in the first quarter of this year and that those profits should be taxed and then used to support the most vulnerable people through difficult times.
He joined other figures who have recently accused oil companies of capitalizing on a global supply shortage to fatten profits and gouge consumers.
People attend the Global Energy Show trade fair in Calgary, Alta., on Tuesday, June 7, 2022. (The Canadian Press)
“This grotesque greed is punishing the poorest and most vulnerable people, while destroying our only common home, the planet,” Guterres said. “We are seeing excessive scandalous profits of the oil and gas industry in a moment in which all of us are losing money.”
WATCH | UN chief urges tax on ‘excessive profits’ of oil companies
UN chief urges tax on ‘excessive profits’ of oil companies
3 days ago
Duration 0:51
Governments should tax the ‘grotesque greed’ of the world’s oil and gas companies and use the money to help vulnerable people through this difficult time, said United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The day after Guterres’ comments — in which he did not single out any company — Suncor Energy Inc. reported earnings of $3.99 billion in the second quarter of 2022, more than four and a half times the $868 million it earned in the same period of 2021.
Asked if Ottawa has given any thought to a higher tax on such profits, the Ministry of Finance instead pointed to other tax measures taken by the federal government, including permanently hiking the corporate tax rate by 1.5 per cent on profitable banks and implementing a luxury tax on private jets and luxury cars worth more than $100,000.
“We have been, and remain, committed to making sure everyone pays their fair share of tax,” the ministry said in an emailed statement on Friday.
NDP says extra revenue should go to ordinary Canadians
Daniel Blaikie, the New Democratic Party’s finance critic, said there’s “absolutely” a place for the federal government to tax “excess profit” at a time when “people are really under the gun when it comes to being able to afford” rent, food and gas.
Blaikie suggested profits could be diverted to increase the GST tax credit and the Canada Child Benefit.
The money could also be used to expand a 2021 increase to Old Age Security payouts for seniors aged 64-75, which currently only applies to those over 75, he added.
Daniel Blaikie, the New Democratic Party’s finance critic, said there’s ‘absolutely’ a place for the federal government to tax energy companies’ ‘excess profit.’ (David Kawai/The Canadian Press)
Kevin Page, a former parliamentary budget officer, agreed that taxed profits could be “put to work with respect to strengthening our social safety net.”
In response, energy companies might argue that elevated taxes amount to an unfair burden on an industry still trying to recover from the global crash in energy prices during the early stages of the pandemic, Page said.
“Those are the tough tradeoffs that we want our political leaders to wrap their heads around,” Page said.
Industry says Ottawa benefiting from increased royalties
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) declined an interview but said in an emailed statement that higher commodity prices translate to a bump in federal royalties.
“Canada is set to see a year-over-year growth of 283 per cent in royalties collected from the four producing oil and gas provinces,” the association said in its statement, in which it also cited income taxes, municipal taxes, corporate tax remittances and the auctioning of mineral rights as additional pools of government money flowing from the oil and gas sector.
Increasing production from democratic countries like Canada would help lower consumer costs, CAPP added.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
