Justin Trudeau has broken away from the standard ‘balanced budget, austerity, tax cuts for the rich’ with the suggestion of increasing taxes for the higher income earners, and decreasing taxes for the middle class.

May I cynically note that his ‘middle class’ seems to include $100K to $200K earners. While these are the votes one wants to get, the influential people who attend party dinners and make party donations, they are not those most in need of tax breaks.

I propose the following alternative:

• Treat all income as income. This includes housing supplements.
• Tax no income below (or near) the poverty line. This would depend on family size, obviously.
• Cut all tax cuts for the rich. This includes income splitting, renovation partial deduction, sports equipment deductions. These latter deductions only work if you have the money up front for the expense – tax cuts for the rich.
• Tax above the poverty line with progressive taxes. A higher tax bracket for very high incomes is totally reasonable.
• Tax corporations, and dump their tax escapes.
• Tax idle money held by corporations.
• Tax cash movement transactions by corporations. Exception: repatriation of profits that become taxable in Canada.

Comments, anyone? Remember to include your real eMail address when responding here.

If you’re waiting for the dumb questions, here are a few:

• How many of us will suggest something like all or part of the above, when candidates knock on our doors?
• How many reporters will admit agreement to any part of the above?
• Do we get the government we deserve?