Halt corporate tax cuts, Liberals say

[Rwede]

BC Hydro (Former) CEO Bob Elton* was the top paid Public-Sector Exec in B.C. 2009/2010, pocketing a cool $749,213 in salary and benefits, a significant chunk of which was apparently "holiday pay" as he stepped down as CEO in Dec. 2009 and became Executive Chair of BC Hydro subsidiary Powertech.

Nab

$191,000 in vacation pay (not holiday pay) was paid out, IIRC. Many CEOs aren't able to take their vacation time during the year because of the demands of their jobs, so it's quite easy to end up with several weeks of owed vacation pay when leaving a job. Vacation pay is also payable on any incentives that are paid too.

This is in accordance with the Employment Standards Act, which applies to all workers in BC who are entitled to exactly the same treatment at their respective wage levels as Mr Elton was.

If you have such a problem with it Nab, you should lobby to change the ESA so that employees don't get paid their vacation pay when they leave their jobs. Good luck with that.

[Urbane]

Some people have the view that if we just soak the corporations will be rolling in money and our standard of living will skyrocket. But I don't think it works that way and neither does John Ivison:

John Ivison January 6, 2011

Canada is in good economic shape thanks to low corporate taxes.
Here’s a news flash for those Canadians who are less optimistic about the Canadian economy in 2011 — in relative terms, we’ve never had it so good.

A survey by Pollara, released Thursday, suggested that worries about the cost of living, the national debt and retirement savings have all contributed to a more downbeat mood across the country when it comes to the economy. Yet, when compared to virtually all of its rivals, Canada in better shape than it has ever been.

“Canada’s international reputation as a destination for capital and investment is better than it has been for a generation,” said Finn Poschmann, vice-president research at the C.D. Howe Institute.

And as Craig Wright, chief economist at RBC Financial Group, told a conference Thursday, if you’re not getting more optimistic about the economic picture, you’re not paying attention.

In the past few days, there have been glowing endorsements of the Canada’s competitive advantage in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Times, which encouraged its readers to “Go North, young man, Go North”.

The basis for much of the praise was the reduction in federal corporate income tax rates from 22% in 2007 to 16.5% today (the latest cut from 18% came into effect on January 1 and there is one further cut to 15% coming next year).

“Twenty-two years ago, we wrote an editorial—‘North, to Argentina’—warning Canada that economic prosperity isn’t a birthright but requires sound policies like free trade. Nowadays, that’s a lecture Canada could credibly deliver to Washington on business taxes,” opined the WSJ’s editorialists, who lamented the current 40% federal levy in the U.S.

It must all make for grim reading for the Liberals, who are keen to freeze corporate tax rates. When he unveiled his plan to cancel the planned $6-billion in corporate tax cuts last March, Michael Ignatieff pledged to “create fiscal room to realize some dreams” – that is, finance his own spending plans such as the $1-billion home care support package.

Yet on January 1, he saw $1.6-billion disappear from his reach and, if there is no election this year, the next planned cut will reduce his room for manoeuvre further still.

Mr. Ignatieff has not said explicitly he will increase the corporate tax rate, if he comes to power after all the planned cuts have been implemented, but he will meddle at his peril. The bottom line is that the cuts are working.

Not only is inward investment on the rise but the reduction in rates has not diminished the federal treasury. On the contrary, corporate income tax revenues were up 12% in the first six months of 2010/11, despite previous cuts in the rate. The creation of a positive environment for investment, jobs and growth has resulted in an explosion of business investment — up 20% in the third quarter of 2010, which should enhance Canada’s competitive position.

These positive developments are not just being noticed by the U.S. media. Accountancy giant KPMG ranks tax competitiveness internationally and its 2010 study saw Canada rise two spots to second place, behind Mexico, but ahead of all its major competitors, thanks to recent changes to the tax system. As the Wall Street Journal noted, relative levels of taxation matter because companies and investors send capital where it can achieve the highest returns. KPMG clearly heeded its own survey by moving its entire back office to Toronto.

This sunny picture is not without its clouds. There is no doubt that household debt is a concern. But as the normally gloomy David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates, noted: “For now, it is completely serviceable.”

“What the markets are telling you is that Canada, the little brother to the north, is a much safer place to park your money from a fiscal balance sheet standpoint,” he said in a note to clients, pointing out the “unprecedented” discounts on Canadian government debt, compared to U.S. Treasuries.

In the face of such evidence, it is remarkable that the Liberals — the people who reduced the corporate rate from 28% in 2000 to 21% in 2004 — are now campaigning against further cuts.

In this light, it should perhaps come as no surprise that an Abacus Data poll this week found Canadians associate the Conservatives with economic recovery and low taxes and the Liberals with weak leadership and internal divisions.

National Post
[email protected]


Read more: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... z1AIRQG9vF

[steven lloyd]

John Ivison January 6, 2011

In the face of such evidence, it is remarkable that the Liberals — the people who reduced the corporate rate from 28% in 2000 to 21% in 2004 — are now campaigning against further cuts.

In this light, it should perhaps come as no surprise that an Abacus Data poll this week found Canadians associate the Conservatives with economic recovery and low taxes and the Liberals with weak leadership and internal divisions.

National Post
[email protected]

We desperately need to encourage more economic development in this country. In addition to the federal Liberals and NDP stand on corporate taxation, I am also very concerned by their efforts to further thwart trade with Asia (ie. opposition to pipelines and oil tanker traffic). If they ever took power we might as well put up billboards stating "Closed For Business".

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=29627

[steven lloyd]

TOP STORY

Scrapping tax cuts still key to budget support: Layton
20/02/2011 12:31:40 PM
CTV.ca News Staff

Layton and Prime Minister Stephen Harper spent about 40 minutes on Friday discussing the NDP leader's key demands for the budget, which is expected to be tabled on March 22.

After the meeting, Layton said he had reiterated his party's focus on four policies: to eliminate federal tax on home-heating fuel, boost the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors, help solve the shortage of family doctors that has left millions of Canadians without a primary care physician, and expanding the Canada Pension Plan.

But one notable NDP policy was absent from that list: scrapping corporate tax cuts.

Layton cleared up the confusion Sunday, saying about one-third of the meeting was devoted to corporate tax cuts which he described as "fundamentally wrong."
Layton has said Harper did not offer any specific assurances on his suggestions, but on Sunday said he was clear he wants to at least try to work with the federal government.

"He's got a choice to make," Layton told CTV's Question Period. "He can either come up with a good budget that responds to some of the real needs that Canadians are facing today, which we outlined, or he can decide not to do that, in which case he will be deciding to move us into an election."

Layton has faced accusations that his proposals will cost billions of dollars at a time when the federal government is trying to reign in record deficits.

But Layton called his suggestions "practical and doable," despite putting a $900 million price tag on his home-heating plan, which calls for a return of a program to help Canadians renovate their homes to become more energy efficient, as well as an end to federal tax on home heating fuel.

"(The government is) looking at spending billions all over the place. Whether it's on the corporate tax cuts or whether it's on jets that they want to buy, you name it. It's not as though this government is averse to spending money," Layton said.

"We're talking about a modest expenditure out of the total package, and it looks as though government revenues are going to be somewhat improved in the budget coming forward, and we think that Canadians who have suffered through this recession and need a little bit of help…we think it's their turn now."

http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/home/scrap ... n/e2121885