Dr. Courtney Howard, MD

Overview

Reduce toxic inequality and get back to basics

Inequality is associated with worsened levels of trust, mental and physical health, women’s empowerment, child health, and levels of criminality. We need to tax big corporations, wealth, pollution, and sugar, and shift those funds to build social and human capital by funding a universal basic income and subsidizing fruits and vegetables.

Plan

  • Implement an annual net wealth tax on Canadian resident economic families equal to 1% of net wealth above 20 million, excluding wealth from lotteries.
  • Implement a Financial  Transaction Tax.
  • Implement a 3% tax on large internet-based companies on online sales in Canada.
  • Address the tax gap of corporations offshoring money.
  • Collect GST/HST on online sales in Canada.
  • Continue the planned increase in the revenue-neutral federal carbon tax.

Prevention is better than cure

Implement an excise tax of 20% on all sugar-sweetened beverages sold in Canada, increasing by 10% year-on-year to reach 50% in year three, with all monies redirected to  subsidize fruits and vegetables. 

Implement a Guaranteed Basic Income from October 2020 to October 2021 to ensure all Canadians 18-64 have income at least 75% of the Low-Income Measure, where the benefit is phased out by $0.50 for every dollar of employment income, to be re-evaluated  at the end of this period for potential continuation.