Hey Shilo,
Thanks for the comments. Your concerns are certainly valid. I have addressed a few already and will clear up the rest when I release more detailed videos (the first of which should be up by the end of the week).
It seems you and I have a similar perspective on cutting taxes for the lower and middle class. I propose funding this by making modest cuts, and getting rid of the credit system (which is complex and discriminatory). I hesitate to support your system of deeper cuts offset by increases in the higher brackets. A recent study found that in Quebec, the highest earners pay about 59% (average, not marginal) of their income in taxes (federal/provincial income, sales taxes, municipal, excise, etc). Therefore, I don’t think it would be fair to burden them further, pushing them over 60%.
I’m just curious about your vision for the Senate. I stress the word vision here because I believe any reform on the Senate should be taken with a clear objective in mind. You said you want senators to serve a maximum of 8 years. What do you hope to accomplish? Do you see the Senate as a sober second thought, like it was designed? Or do you see it as just a different body from the House of Commons? I’ve heard ’8 years’ being floated around, and I was just wondering what your particular motivation behind it was.
Thanks again,
Tani
Hi there!
I’m looking forward to your video updates, I think you have a strong platform, and I’m positive that you’ll bring a lot more to the table with these updates
I admit that offsetting tax cuts for the middle class by increasing taxation on the wealthy has ramifications, but on the other hand I think that NOT offsetting the tax cuts would be a huge financial drain. Also, with the current tax system in place, the cuts will have some benefit to the wealthy-the first part of their income will be taxed less, they would only see a marginal increase in taxation of amounts greater than $123 000 (1%) and a slightly larger increase on a proposed fifth tier for amounts greater than $180 000 (not exact figures-for exact figures please see my website!). As such, I think only the very wealthy would impacted by these modifications.
And I do agree the current credit system is a mess. I would like to see that changed, but did not address it in my platform as I had already proposed a number of changes in the tax system and didn’t want to come across as completely re-vamping it.
My vision for senate is a balance between the ‘sober second thought’ and fair representation of the Canadian population. I would be flexible on the actual set term, I just felt that 10 years was a bit too much to serve consecutively, so I opted for 8. The figure is not so important as the concept of limiting their terms. I believe that the senate should still provide that ‘sober second thought’ but that their ideals and their vision for Canada should be consistent with majority of Canadians. I don’t feel that the current senate always has the same vision for Canada as the rest of the country, and that although they are a ‘sober second thought’ these thoughts should still reflect the best interest of Canadians. By limiting their terms and keeping fresh people coming into senate, they can still provide that second thought, but they may also be more open to change than our current senate is.
I look forward to further discussion with you on this! If you have any more questions about my platform, fire away, and I can’t wait to see your next video