Many people wish for lower tax bills and more money in their bank accounts. But a group of young, rich Canadians want the federal government to tax them more.
About 200 wealthy people aged 18 to 40 belong to Resource Movement, an activist group that is expanding across Canada. Their mission is to reduce inequality between Canada’s wealthiest people and the rest of the population.
Its members are advocating for the creation of two new taxes that would have a direct impact on their own bank accounts and those of their parents: a “wealth tax” on the richest 10 per cent of Canadians, and an inheritance tax on the top 10 per cent of estates.
“A wealth tax will have no impact on my life. So, why not?” Montrealer Claire Trottier said in an interview with Radio-Canada. “No one’s going to cry for me if I have to give part of my inheritance.”
The group says it has redistributed more than $450,000 to social justice groups and, more recently, grassroots COVID-19 aid measures through its fundraising efforts since it was founded in 2015.
‘Tax my inheritance. Tax my fortune’
Trottier, a 40-year-old microbiology and immunology professor at McGill University in Montreal, grew up rich.
Her father, Lorne Trottier, co-founded Matrox, a high-tech company, and was ranked 38th wealthiest Canadian in the late ’90s when she was attending a private high school.
“I knew I was very, very lucky,” she said.
Resource Movement members hold signs asking the government to tax them more. They are pushing for less inequality in Canada. (Submitted by Resource Movement)
“I never had to worry. If I had trouble making rent, for example. I always had a safety cushion to rely on. It helped me make life choices that are difficult for other people.”
In 2000, her family created the Trottier Family Foundation, a charitable foundation that gives out grants every year. In 2018 alone, it donated close to $10 million to environment, health and education projects.
But Trottier said philanthropy is not enough.
“Our family made a conscious choice to give part of its wealth to society. There are many families like ours who do not make this choice,” Trottier said.
“A wealth tax is a way to make sure everyone does their fair share.”
Leading up to what would have been the March federal budget earlier this year — which was cancelled because of the pandemic — Resource Movement prepared a campaign taking aim at Canada’s tax system.
In a video produced for the group’s website and social media channels, members ask the government to “tax my fortune” and “tax my inheritance.”
A federal report found the top 10 per cent of Canada’s richest families have about 56.7 per cent of Canada’s wealth — more than $6.6 trillion, according to the report, which was published in June by the office of Canada’s parliamentary budget officer.
In contrast, the bottom 40 per cent are estimated to have 1.1 per cent of the wealth, about $132 billion.
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Resource Movement’s members say a wealth tax alone would bring in $9 billion annually and could help finance affordable housing, a national drug benefit program and access to dental care.
“As people who come from wealth, we know there’s a ton of wealth in this country that is just not being accessed by the state right now, but we need it and we can use it more productively,” said member Daniel Hoyer, a 38-year-old college instructor based in Toronto. His father was a chef and restaurant owner; his mother was an accountant.
He believes a wealth tax is the way to recover the money that currently eludes public coffers by taxing all assets.
How to balance the scales
But one expert said rebalancing the scales is easier said than done. Patrick Leblond, a professor with the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, is doubtful.
“‘We’ll tax the rich’ sounds good, but is it the most effective way of getting more money in government’s coffers?” he said.
“Government would have to hire people to try to measure all this, to run all over the world because, of course, the richer people are, the more they’re able to hide their assets.”
Chrystia Freeland delivered a TED talk in 2013 on the rise of the new ‘global super-rich.’ A statement from her office said ‘there is still more to do to ensure every Canadian has a fair chance at success.’ (Ted Talks via Flikr)
He suggested other measures could be more easily put in place, such as treating all personal revenue the same way — starting with capital gains.
Right now, if a person sells shares or properties, for instance, only half the profit, called a capital gain, is taxable. People’s wages, on the other hand, are almost all taxable.
Leblond said taxing capital gains less than salaries is “a fiscal advantage for the rich.”
While some experts don’t agree on the measures needed, others in power recognize there is a problem.
The new federal finance minister appears to be one of them.
In 2012, right before going into politics, Chrystia Freeland published Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else, a book on the inequalities between the very rich and the rest of the population.
Patrick Leblond, a professor with the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, suggested treating all personal revenue the same way might be a more effective way of taxing the rich. (Simon Lasalle/Radio Canada)
But she would not comment on the proposed taxes on the wealth and the inheritance of the richest Canadians.
Finance minister previously denounced inequality
In an email, her office noted the Trudeau government had introduced higher personal income taxes for the wealthiest Canadians, lowered those of the middle class and put the Canada Child Benefit in place. But her office recognized that “there is still more to do to ensure every Canadian has a fair chance at success.”
Trottier said the next speech from the throne, scheduled for Sept. 23, is the opportunity for the Trudeau government to do more.
The pandemic has laid bare who’s most deserving in Canada — the front-line workers whose salaries are often on the low end of the scale, she said.
“I think the inequalities in our society became obvious to a lot more people during the pandemic,” she said. “And we realized who are the people doing the essential work. We have lists now. It’s very clear who is doing the essential work.”
TORONTO – Ontario’s education minister has asked officials to conduct a governance review of a Brantford-area Catholic school board after trustees spent $45,000 on a trip to Italy to buy $100,000 worth of art.
Trustees of the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board promised to pay back the trip expenses, not long after they were reported by the Brantford Expositor, but Education Minister Jill Dunlop said more answers are necessary.
“While I acknowledge that the (board) is taking steps to fix their error in judgment, I remain concerned that accountability was only taken after my ministry and the public expressed clear concerns for the misuse of taxpayer dollars,” Dunlop wrote in a statement.
“With that in mind, I have asked my officials to start the process to conduct a governance review of the board.”
The Brantford Expositor reported that the art purchased in Italy included life-sized, hand-painted wooden statues of St. Padre Pio and the Virgin Mary, a large crucifix, sculptures depicting the 14 stations of the cross and a bust of Pope Francis.
Most of the art is destined for St. Padre Pio Catholic Secondary School, currently under construction, which the board wants to make a “flagship” school, the newspaper reported.
Board chair Rick Petrella initially told the Expositor that he and three other trustees travelled to Italy over the summer to meet artisans and commission the religious artwork.
“We looked at buying it off the shelf, but nothing stood out,” he told the newspaper.
But Petrella and the board of trustees now say in a subsequent statement that they regret the trip, and have promised to repay the expenses, as well as look at donations or other funding to offset the cost of the artwork to the board.
“We recognize that the optics and actions of this trip were not favorable, and although it was undertaken in good faith to promote our Catholic identity and to do something special for our two new schools, we acknowledge that it was not the best course of action,” they wrote.
The province is also conducting an audit of the Thames Valley District School Board in southwestern Ontario due to a staff retreat in Toronto that cost nearly $40,000, including a stay at the Rogers Centre hotel.
The ministry is also doing an expedited investigation of the Toronto District School Board after Premier Doug Ford raised concerns about a recent field trip, which saw students from 15 schools attend a protest on mercury contamination affecting a First Nation community in the north.
Videos of the protest on social media show some march participants chanting pro-Palestinian slogans, which prompted Ford to complain that teachers were trying to indoctrinate children.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2024.
TORONTO – Credit card fees for small and medium-sized businesses are starting to dip lower as a deal reached between the federal government and the two major card companies is set to take effect.
Mastercard and Visa are reducing interchange fees by up to 27 per cent in a move that Ottawa says will save businesses about $1 billion over five years.
Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business thanked Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland for seeing the deal through. In a statement, he said qualifying businesses could expect about $350 savings per year for each $100,000 in Visa sales and about $200 in savings per year for each $100,000 in Mastercard sales.
To qualify, businesses’ sales volume can’t exceed $300,000 on Visa and $175,000 for Mastercard.
The change officially takes place Saturday, but some payment processors have already started to pass on the savings.
The small business group has, however, noted that not all processors have been clear that they’ll pass on the savings, pointing for example to Stripe where not all customers will see a change.
Kelly said Stripe’s decision means the company would keep the savings that were intended for small business customers.
“It’s extremely disappointing to see a big company take this approach,” he said.
Stripe says customers on its Interchange Plus plan, which sees costs vary by transaction type, will see the fee reductions passed through, just like other network cost and fee changes.
But those on its flat-rate plan won’t see a change, because the company says it has seen other costs and fees rise that add up to more than the reduction in interchange fees.
Other processors such as Moneris have said that qualifying businesses on both its interchange plus and flat rate model will see a reduction.
Finance Ministry spokeswoman Marie-France Faucher said the fee reduction should benefit about 90 per cent of businesses that accept credit card, and the department expects companies to pass on the savings.
“The federal government is closely monitoring the implementation of the credit card fees reduction, with the strong expectation that all payment processors like Stripe will pass the savings on to small businesses.”
She said the revised code of conduct for the industry has also given businesses more rights, including switching processors without penalty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2024.
MONTREAL – Quebec’s largest nurses union has reached a deal with the provincial government more than a year and a half after their collective agreement expired in March 2023.
Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé, known as the FIQ, announced Thursday evening that two-thirds of union members had voted to adopt a new collective agreement recommended by a conciliator.
The details of the deal were not disclosed, but a major sticking point had been the government’s push for nurses to be more flexible in moving between health-care facilities to address staffing needs.
The union rejected a deal in principle in April over concerns about transfers between health centres, but president Julie Bouchard says those requirements will now be better defined.
However, Bouchard is not declaring victory and says the union will continue to fight to improve difficult working conditions, which include mandatory overtime and staff shortages.
The union has 80,000 members, including the majority of Quebec nurses, and the new collective agreement covers the period from 2023 to 2028.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2024.
