the "tax the billionaires" political refrain is Good Actually in part because it is a call for the people at the top to actually be constrained by rules informed by the public interest, a virtue that fingerwagging correctives about how much revenue such taxes would *really* generate doesn't address

In total, estimates suggest tax havens cost Canada $15B annually, enough to fund our new dental care program and a true single-payer pharmacare program. It is high time our government takes this problem seriously and commits to close these loopholes for good.

The use of tax havens is not just due to a few bad apples. We found that over three quarters of S&P/TSX 60 firms have at least one subsidiary in a tax haven, and the real number is likely even higher. Through differences in foreign tax rates, these firms avoided $7B in taxes in 2024.

Asset shifting to tax havens has expanded because successive governments have expanded a loophole that allows companies to return profits to Canada tax-free. After this loophole was expanded to 5 tax havens in the early 2010s, an additional $47.1B was shifted to these countries in the next 5 years

We could start by shifting the tax burden back towards the top 1%, who currently pay a total tax rate about half the rate of a median earner in Canada.

Since 1982, the after-tax incomes of the top 1% have increased by 511% and the top 0.01% have increased of 942%.

If we are to truly solve the affordability crisis, we must move beyond a narrow focus on GDP growth and ensure policies benefit those most directly impacted by the affordability crisis.

During the neoliberal era, Canada’s economic growth has been disproportionately captured by the top 1%. After-tax incomes for half of Canadians have increased at less than half the rate of GDP growth. The difference has gone to the top 1%.