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Too Too Funny Deja Vu Anyone???
New taxes on rich could prompt exodus of entrepreneurs
Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters say Finance Minister Roger Melanson should rethink new taxes on wealthy
CBC News · Posted: May 15, 2015 9:42 AM ADT
New taxes on rich could prompt exodus of entrepreneurs
Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters say Finance Minister Roger Melanson should rethink new taxes on wealthy
The provincial government needs to reconsider its plan to impose higher taxes on the wealthiest New Brunswickers, according to a business group.
Joel
Richardson, the vice-president of the Canadian Manufacturers and
Exporters in New Brunswick, said the New Brunswick government should
reverse its new tax rates for the richest taxpayers. (Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters)
The new taxes will raise $30 million for the cash-strapped provincial government.
Joel Richardson, the vice-president of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, said he hopes Melanson reconsiders the move.
"I know the provincial coffers need money, but if the finance minister says it is only going to generate about $30 million, it's a relatively small amount of money compared to the entire provincial budget," Richardson said.
"What could we do with that $30 million that we're not currently doing in terms of targeting new growth opportunities, new startups and reinvesting in our manufacturing and exporting companies?"
This is putting a significant amount of stress on high-level entrepreneurs, that quite frankly we need right now.
- Joel Richardson, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters
The higher taxes were a commitment in the Liberal Party's 2014 election platform.
New Brunswickers with a taxable income of between $150,000 and $250,000 will now see a new personal income tax rate of 21 per cent imposed. The rate for taxable incomes over $250,000 will be 25.75 per cent.
The previous rate was 17.84 per cent.
"We believe that asking our richest residents to contribute more is reasonable, fair and progressive," Melanson said in a statement on Thursday.
However, Richardson said these higher taxes could cost the province in terms of businesses or entrepreneurs who decide to pack up and leave for lower-tax jurisdictions.
Finance Minister Roger Melanson says the new tax rates on the wealthy will generate an extra $30 million. (CBC)
The business group official says these new rates would give New Brunswick the fourth highest top personal income tax level behind Denmark, Sweden and Portugal in the OECD.
"This is putting a significant amount of stress on high-level entrepreneurs, that quite frankly we need right now," Richardson said.
The business community's reaction to tax hikes in the Liberal budget is similar to the chorus of complaints from advocates for seniors, for-profit daycare operators and university students who saw cuts in the budget.
Other tax experts have said the higher rates will not generate the projected income.
Jack Mintz, an economist at the University of Calgary, said in April that federal studies have shown that raising rates on the rich just increases the use of shelters and other tax avoidance schemes.
Francine Landry pulls proposed binding arbitration changes
Opposition parties, unions applaud Liberal government's decision to back off proposed arbitration changes
Labour Minister Francine Landry has pulled amendments to the binding arbitration process and has promised to appoint a committee to examine the issue.
The labour minister announced on Friday the Liberal government would remove the contentious section from Bill 24.
"It has become clear through correspondence and meetings from stakeholders from both industry and labour that there are many divergent opinions on the proposed changes to binding arbitration," Landry told the legislature.
Green
Party Leader David Coon said public and private sector unions should be
applauded for standing up to the provincial government on the binding
arbitration changes. (CBC)
She said one of the first issues the committee will tackle is the rising labour costs through binding arbitration at universities and municipalities.
The move was applauded by politicians and unions.
"This is certainly welcome news on the floor of the legislature here today," said Progressive Conservative MLA Trevor Holder.
Green Party Leader David Coon said public and private sector unions should be congratulated for standing up to the provincial government.
"They made their case so clear and so effectively and so beyond reproach the evidence — they had clear arguments, they were relentless and it just showed the errors of the changes they were intending to make to our labour laws around arbitration," Coon said.
Joel
Richardson, the vice-president of the Canadian Manufacturers and
Exporters division in New Brunswick, said the provincial government
didn't talk to private sector companies in advance of the changes. (CBC)
Union leaders had denounced the proposed reforms, saying they would give employers, including municipalities and universities, more leverage in contract talks.
Joel Richardson, the vice-president of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association in New Brunswick, said he supported the decision to rip up the section on binding arbitration.
"I think that overall the employers of New Brunswick were very concerned with this piece of legislation," said Richardson.
"The companies in New Brunswick were also not consulted. So we are very pleased to see the government reverse direction."
Municipal concerns
Municipalities had asked the provincial government for some of the changes, saying the current system leads to arbitrators granting large wage hikes.
Glenn
Sullivan, the president of Atlantic Firefighters Association, said the
binding arbitration system has "treated us fairly" since it was adopted. (CBC)
The City of Moncton said last month when it signed a new contract with firefighters that those employees will have seen a 50-per-cent pay increase over two contracts, increases the city felt it had to grant to avoid the risk of arbitration.
The Cities Association of New Brunswick issued a statement on Friday afternoon, criticizing the Liberal government for backtracking on the binding arbitration changes.
Denis Roussel, the association's executive director, said the escalation of police and fire wages is "increasingly unsustainable" for city governments.
He said these wage hikes are "resulting in an inequitable escalation of municipal protective service wages relative to other public sector workers."
Glenn Sullivan, the president of Atlantic Firefighters Association, applauded the Liberal government's climbdown on the arbitration amendments.
He said the binding arbitration system has "treated us fairly" since it was adopted.
"We had an agreement then that in order to eliminate strikes … it would be replaced by binding arbitration and that system has worked very well since then," he said.
"We feel that it is sort of disingenuous by municipalities [to say] it is an unfair system, that it tips the balance too much in favour of the unions, because it is just not accurate."
Liberals defend change of course
The arbitration changes were included in Bill 24, which contains several legislative reforms related to the Gallant government's strategic program review.
Opposition Leader Bruce Fitch said the small Liberal cabinet should be blamed for legislative mistakes. (CBC)
Liberal cabinet minister Donald Arseneault said he didn't think Friday's decision showed the government made a mistake.
"I think the process works. Democracy works," he said.
"The legislature is there when we introduce bills. The opposition has the role to play to ask the proper questions. If we think that there is more work can be done on some of these pieces of legislation … why not?"
The two opposition parties were divided on Arseneault's explanation.
Opposition Leader Bruce Fitch said the problems can be blamed on Premier Brian Gallant's decision to appoint a small cabinet and the cabinet ministers are too busy.
"They are overloaded. They are not taking the time to read the bills, to understand the bill, more importantly … I have never seen so many bills repealed or reversed," Fitch said.
Meanwhile, the Green party leader said governments should reverse course when it's evident that a policy isn't acceptable.
"There is no shame in correcting mistakes and doing the right thing on the part of the government," Coon said.
"Where we run into real trouble is when governments dig their heels in and refuse to do that. They did the right thing."
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In this new role, Jane will act as the Firm’s senior English Canada lead for media training across NATIONAL’s network of teams and offices. Congratulations, Jane!
Jane Taber
Intro
James Baxter
Excellent blog post by Carleton Prof. Dwayne Winseck.
Jane Taber
Jane Taber (born 1957) is a Canadian public servant, former political journalist and television host of public affairs programming. Taber was appointed Director of Communications under former Premier of Nova Scotia, Iain Rankin of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party in February 2021.[1][2]
Career
Political journalism
Taber reported on Parliament Hill news beginning 1986, working as a parliamentary reporter and columnist for the Ottawa Citizen, the National Post, and The Globe and Mail.[3] For three seasons, from 1995 to 1997, she was the host of a 30-minute-long political affairs show on WTN called Jane Taber's Ottawa.[4] She also co-produced an hour-long documentary on the struggles of women in politics broadcast during the 1997 Canadian federal election.
Working under Bell Media's umbrella of companies, Taber was co-host of CTV Television Network's Question Period with Craig Oliver from 2005 to 2011, while also a senior parliamentary writer at The Globe and Mail's Ottawa bureau from 2003 to 2012. She relocated to the newspaper's Halifax office in 2012, becoming the Atlantic Bureau Chief.[5]
On June 26, 2011, Taber relinquished her role as co-host of Question Period to Kevin Newman. However, she continued to take part in the program as a regular guest journalist, and acted as a stand-in host for Don Martin on CTV News Channel's Power Play.
Public relations
Leaving journalism in 2016, Taber entered the public relations field as vice president of public affairs at National Public Relations (Res Publica Consulting Group) in Halifax.[6][7]
Following the resignation of Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil, Taber moderated the Nova Scotia Liberal Party's candidate forum for its 2021 Nova Scotia Liberal Party leadership election on December 10, 2020. While still Vice President at National Public Relations at that time,[8][9] Taber was later appointed Director of Communications for the winner of the leadership race, Premier of Nova Scotia Iain Rankin, in February 2021. After Rankin's dramatic loss for the Liberals in the 2021 Nova Scotia general election on August 17, 2021, Taber rejoined National Public Relations as Vice President, Public Affairs.
Personal life
Educated at Carleton University, Taber was elected to its board of directors for a term of three years on July 1, 2019.[2]
Taber is married to editor David F. Guy of allNovaScotia, a subscription-based online newspaper. They have two children.[10]
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