Good for Canada: A platform to end income inequality

Good for Canada: A platform to end income inequality

By Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

On October 19, Canadians will go to the polls to determine who will form the next federal government.
What if this federal election featured a comprehensive platform that could make the federal government a force for good in everyone’s lives by creating a more resilient, healthier, safer, more equal Canada?
Our 4-plank platform outlines a set of practical progressive policy solutions and the means to pay for them. Good jobs, a strong social safety net, and robust public programs are the key to ending income inequality.

GOOD JOBS

Canada works when all Canadians who want a job have a good job. The better wages are, the more money Canadians will pump back into our economy. But too many Canadians are struggling in low paying, insecure jobs.

Our 14-point national Good Jobs plank addresses each of these areas of concern.

1 Retrain those who have been downsized to equip workers for the jobs of today and tomorrow—not yesterday.

2 Create regional Local Job Task Force groups and a Youth Labour Market Planning Board.

3 Establish a national network of Sector Development Councils in order to stimulate investment and employment in Canada and to develop and mobilize Canadian technology for broader commercial application.

4 Reserve 1/5th of jobs created by federally funded infrastructure projects for Canadian youth.

5 Help vulnerable groups enter the workforce by supporting literacy and essential skills training.

6 Permit Temporary Foreign Workers to apply for Canadian citizenship without requiring an employer’s recommendation.

7 Rebalance the bargaining relationship between employers and workers through measures that support collective bargaining and workers’ rights.

8 Create a national affordable tuition plan to ensure youth access to a post-secondary education.

9 Ensure equal pay for work of equal value by repealing the Public Service Equitable Compensation Act.

10 Institute a federal minimum wage that is within 60% of the average industrial wage.

11 Develop a Workforce Renewal Fund through the Employment Insurance system.

12 Invest $500 million annually for First Nations skills training and employment.

13 Create incentives for employment equity so employers will hire, train, retain, and promote workers from marginalized groups.

14 Make it mandatory that all federal government programs and contracts above $1 million meet employment equity goals and local content requirements.

GOOD SAFETY NET

No one should be left behind in prosperous Canada, and yet, too many are. From veterans, marginalized Canadians, newcomers, and First Nations people to families living with disabilities.

Our nine-point Strong Social Safety Net plank makes Canada’s system of income supports more robust.

1 Fix Canada’s broken Employment Insurance (EI) system.

2 Increase the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) by 200% to keep more seniors out of poverty.

3 Cancel income splitting among seniors and redirect this money to enhance the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for low-income seniors.

4 Pioneer a national poverty reduction strategy, working with provinces and territories, that features clear targets and timelines for action.

5 Restore eligibility for Old Age Security to age 65 instead of making seniors wait until they turn 67.

6 Introduce a new federal transfer payment to the provinces and territories to help them achieve their poverty reduction goals.

7 Expand Canada’s Veterans Affairs’ rehabilitation support program.

8 Double the National Child Benefit Supplement (NCBS) to reduce child poverty by 26%.

9 Launch a national initiative to end exclusion of people living with disabilities.

GOOD PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Canada prospers when we invest in people so they can invest back in Canada. Good social programs remove barriers so that all Canadians can become contributing members of society.

Our nine-point Good Public Programs plank improves upon existing public programs and builds new ones for new generations of Canadians.

1 Create a national affordable housing strategy.

2 Implement a national $10-a-day child care program.

3 Launch a national pharmacare program.

4 Provide a national dental care program for all children aged 14 and under.

5 Enact a national action plan to address violence against women, including appointing a national public commission of Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

6 Commit to increased funding for Status of Women Canada.

7 Invest $470 million annually for the next 10 years in First Nations water treatment systems; invest $1 billion annually for the next 10 years to address the housing crisis in First Nation communities; invest $1.9 billion to support First Nations schools.

8 Provide support for new and young farmers.

9 Lead the way on a green energy economy and create a Green Infrastructure Fund so provinces and municipalities can upgrade their physical infrastructure protecting residents against extreme weather incidents such as flooding and ice storms.

PROGRESSIVE TAXATION

Canada’s tax system is less progressive than it was 20 years ago. A progressive tax system is built on the principle that those who have more should be asked to contribute more for the greater good of society.
It’s the way Canada’s tax system used to be structured. We can do it again.

Our eight-point Progressive Taxation plank resets the balance.

1 Restore the corporate tax rate to 22%, just below the 2006 rate, generating an estimated $9.8 billion annually in additional revenues.

2 Increase the small business tax rate from 11% to 15% generating an additional $1.75 billion annually.

3 Introduce a new tax bracket, charging 35% on incomes above $250,000.

4 Tax income from capital gains at the same rate as employment income.

5 Implement a financial transaction tax.

6 Cancel the stock option deduction, which allows CEOs and executives to pay tax on their compensation in stock options at half the rate the rest of us pay on our hard-earned employment income.

7 Eliminate the tax loophole for corporate meals and entertainment expenses, which include the cost of private boxes at sports events.

8 Create a minimum Millionaires Inheritance Tax of 45% on estates worth $5 million or more.