Videos | Canadians for Tax Fairness

Canada should consider excess profit tax to combat grocery prices, researcher says

Canadians for Tax Fairness researcher and economist DT Cochrane speaks with CBC News about the need for an excess profits tax to help households deal with inflation.

Profits of large corporations are climbing alongside the prices of goods. An excess profits tax would help Canadians who are struggling with the rising cost of living and deter corporations from seeking higher profit margins that contribute to inflation.

Corporations took wage subsidy, cut employment

C4TF economist and researcher Dr. DT Cochrane is interviewed by CityNews about our latest report "Public Funds for Private Gains".

Our report found large profitable corporations took the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, bolstered profits, reduced employment, and avoided billions in taxes.

Cochrane tells CityNews the federal government can recover some of that money back to the public with a windfall tax on large corporations' excess profits.

How will we pay for it? With tax fairness.

How many times have you heard that we can't afford to pay for the social programs and public services Canadians need? Whether it's pharmacare, childcare, or investments in a green economy, Canada can afford to invest in a stronger and more equitable society. But it will require everyone to pay their fair share.

Our video highlights how much revenue could be raised by closing tax loopholes for the rich and making the tax system fairer.

Where we'd like to see Canada go in terms of tax fairness

The C4TF team discuss their vision for a country where taxation is a way to invest in Canadians, so that economic disparities decrease, and we build a truly caring society. In order to invest in that future, we need to end the tax-dodging schemes and tax loopholes that a select few of the wealthiest corporations and individuals use to avoid paying their fair share.

^{(Speakers: Executive Director Katrina Miller, Economist DT Cochrane, Communications Coordinator Darren Shore, and Board of Directors members Peggy Nash and David Bruer.)}

Why is Canadians for Tax Fairness important for Canada?

Canadians for Tax Fairness (C4TF) fights to ensure that everyone, including the richest corporations and individuals, contributes their fair share towards the revenue needed by our public institutions. When that doesn't happen, our public institutions lack the funds to respond effectively to crises like pandemics and climate change, or to effectively provide the quality public services that everyone wants and needs, from healthcare and long-term care, education and housing.

^{(Speakers: Executive Director Katrina Miller, Economist DT Cochrane, Communications Coordinator Darren Shore, and Board of Directors members Peggy Nash and David Bruer.)}

Why we need transparency on long-term care spending

Prior to Ontario's government announcing massive spending on for-profit long-term care, DT Cochrane's report, Careless Profits, showed that an estimated $3.8 billion in public funding provided to long-term care operators in Ontario was syphoned off as profit during the decade before the COVID-19 Pandemic, contributing to poor care conditions linked to over a thousand deaths in for-profit facilities over the previous two years. To make matters worse, private long-term care companies dodged taxes and used tax havens. BNN Bloomberg's Amanda Lang interviews economist DT Cochrane.

How corporate profiteering led to rising inflation

An interview with C4TF economist DT Cochrane about how corporate profiteering is fuelling inflation and driving up the cost of living. The Breach, 2 May 2022.

^{Related Reports: The Rise of Corporate Profits in the Time of Covid (April 2022); January 7th is Corporate Income Tax Freedom Day (January 2022); Pandemic Profits and the Public Purse (May 2021).}

^{Related Coverage: Critics accuse Loblaws of profiting from inflation as profits surge by 40%, Christine Dobby, Toronto Star, 5 May 2022; If we want Canada to recover economically, it’s time to raise the corporate income tax rate, DT Cochrane, Toronto Star, 22 April 2022.}

How the rich using tax havens affects everyone else

Toby Sanger from Canadians for Tax Fairness explains why tax avoidance has remained legal, and the knock-on effects for those who can’t afford to use them.

^{See: The Pandora Papers}

How can we improve our tax system for working Canadians?

How does our system protect the rich while exploiting working Canadians? C4TF former Executive Director Toby Sanger argues that stronger measures against tax dodgers, tackling tax havens, redistribution of CEO pay, and investment in public services over private partnerships would go a long way to strengthening Canada's economy.

^{Related: Platform for Tax Fairness 2021, by Toby Sanger}

^{Video produced by Canadian Dimension}

How the Isle of Man tax dodge scheme worked

The Isle of Man tax dodge scheme - a "grossly negligent offshore tax sham" involving KPMG - gets explained by C4TF then-Executive Director Toby Sanger.

^{Related: Wealthy KPMG clients continued to dodge taxes for years after CRA detected offshore 'sham', Harvey Cashore & Frédéric Zalac, CBC News, 4 June 2021; Court loss shows Canada should reform corporate tax rules, 7 July 2020 by Erika Beauchesne; CRA strikes secret deal with wealthy KPMG clients in Isle of Man scheme, 2 June 2019 by Toby Sanger.}