How much do working parents need to earn to be able to afford to live in our community? There reports released today provide the answer for the three largest regional districts in BC, home to 2/3 of this province’s population: $19.62/hour in Metro Vancouver, $18.73/hour in Greater Victoria and $16.37/hour in the Fraser Valley.
Entries Tagged as 'Taxes'
Living wage reports reveal a big gap between actual wages and the costs of raising a family in BC
May 2nd, 2013 · Iglika Ivanova · 1 Comment · Economy, Education, Employment & labour, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Taxes, Women
Are average Canadians paying too much in taxes?
April 24th, 2013 · Iglika Ivanova · 4 Comments · Economy, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Provincial budget & finance, Taxes
On April 23, the Fraser Institute released the annual update of their misleading Consumer Tax Index report. The piece is meant to feed the anti-tax sentiment with numbers sprinkled liberally for their shock value instead of providing any meaningful analysis. Here are some of the main flaws with the report’s methodology. If what follows sounds [...]
Assessing BC’s Fiscal Health: Can BC afford more deficits?
April 17th, 2013 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Economy, Provincial budget & finance, Taxes
By Seth Klein and Iglika Ivanova [Note: this piece has also appeared in the Tyee here.] OK, time for a reality check on BC’s deficits. Simply put, while arguments about deficits and “who is the better fiscal manager” may make for entertaining politics, there is no compelling economic reason why BC cannot run a few [...]
BC has plenty of room to increase taxes
March 19th, 2013 · Seth Klein · 4 Comments · Economy, Taxes
by Seth Klein, Iglika Ivanova and Shannon Daub (previously run by the Tyee here) Our last post argued that British Columbians are open to tax increases, and that the province would be well advised to increase revenues so that we can invest in services that improve our quality of life (such as affordable child care, [...]
Your BC income taxes are lower than you think
March 15th, 2013 · Seth Klein · 1 Comment · Provincial budget & finance, Taxes
As we approach tax filing time, here’s a little context regarding your BC income taxes… One of the problems plaguing debates about taxes in BC is that people think they pay much more in provincial income taxes than they actually do. For example, if I suggested that everyone pay 20% more in provincial income taxes, [...]
Tags: Taxes
The Shifting Terrain of Taxes in BC: Budget signals new openness to tax increases
March 3rd, 2013 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Provincial budget & finance, Taxes
[The following piece was also published on The Tyee here.] These are certainly interesting times. For all the faults in last week’s BC Budget (and there were many), it’s worth noting that the conversation about taxes has fundamentally shifted, and in a welcome direction. After vigorously insisting for years that tax increases would be ruinous [...]
Thank you, Hugh Segal
February 21st, 2013 · Jonathan Chapnick · 3 Comments · Economy, Employment & labour, Human rights, Law & legal issues, Taxes
The debate on Bill C-377 has moved to the Senate. As many Policy Note readers probably know, Bill C-377 would impose onerous and unfair financial and operational disclosure obligations on unions and other labour organizations, in the lofty name of “transparency and accountability,” but with the actual malicious aim of weakening Labour and publicizing the [...]
Tags: democracy·labour rights·Privacy·unions
Fairness by design: a framework for tax reform in Canada
February 14th, 2013 · Iglika Ivanova · Comments Off · Taxes, Transparency & accountability
A new CCPA (National) report by Marc Lee and myself argues that Canada’s tax system needs a “fairness” overhaul and presents a framework for progressive tax reform. Those of you who have been following our tax work so far will find this study a great complement to the BC Tax Options Paper. Tax policy is [...]
Tags: carbon tax·income taxes·inequality·tax cuts·tax fairness·tax loopholes·tax reform·Taxes
BC throne speech repackages old announcements, lacks courage and vision
February 12th, 2013 · Iglika Ivanova · Comments Off · Climate change, Economy, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Provincial budget & finance, Taxes
Today’s Speech from the Throne reads more like a list of what this government sees as its main achievements than a true framework for going forward. New initiatives are few and far between, sandwiched between pages of self-congratulatory recap of the natural gas strategy, the jobs plan and highlights from the last budget. All in [...]
More twists and turns in the dubious economics of LNGs
February 8th, 2013 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Climate change, Economy, Environment, resources & sustainability, Taxes
This morning the newspapers bring news that the natural gas industry is seeking tax breaks for developing liquified natural gas (LNG) plants. Apparently the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers is asking for increased capital cost allowances , which would cost the federal government as much as $2 billion over seven years in foregone revenues. The [...]
Tags: Climate change·LNG·tax cuts
