Ontario corporate tax cuts come with a big price tag

'Rarely in my memory has a government come forward with a policy as blatantly unfair.' - Warren (Smokey) Thomas.

Toronto (2 Feb. 2011) - Corporate tax cuts being implemented by the McGuinty government come at a cost of weakened public services, lower wages and lost job opportunities, says the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE).

OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas made the argument Monday in a presentation to the Ontario standing committee on finance and economic affairs at Queen's Park.

Thomas told the committee that corporate tax cuts are being paid for in three ways:

• First, through vicious cuts to key public services, as in the recent wave of bed closures in mental health. The government plans to eliminate 2,000 more jobs in the Ontario public service alone, despite admitting that Ontario has the second-cheapest public service per capita of any province in Canada.
• Second, Ontarians are paying for corporate tax cuts through wage cuts for nursing home workers, college admissions clerks, correctional officers and anyone else who happened to choose a career in public service.
• Third, Ontarians are paying for corporate tax cuts through the HST. While income tax cuts and other tax credits offset much of the impact, many Ontarians do not file tax returns. Of these people, a disproportionate number are poor and will pay the full amount of the HST. But even people whose income is unaffected by the HST will be affected by it by what they lose in public services. The province's Tax Plan says the overall tax cut package “will reduce Ontario revenue by $3.4 billion over the first four years.” This is almost certainly a lowball estimate, OPSEU argues.

"Rarely in my memory has a government come forward with a policy as blatantly unfair as the McGuinty wage freeze policy," Thomas argued.

"All of the money saved through the wage freeze, which could run as high as $1.8 billion a year when fully phased in, will go to pay for corporate income tax cuts. None of it will go to save jobs, protect services or pay down the deficit."

The full copy of the OPSEU presentation to the committee is available at the link below.

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE

More information:
• OPSEU brief: Corporate tax cuts come with a price tag