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Almost nine out of every ten Canadians feel that the rich should pay more taxes.
Toronto (31 May 2013) - According to a new poll the overwhelming majority of Canadians feel that the country's rich should pay more taxes.
Nine out of ten think the rich should pay more taxes
The Ipsos Reid poll found that almost nine out of ten (88%) Canadians support the idea. Only about one in ten (12%) Canadians opposed making the rich pay more in tax.
Furthermore, almost 90% indicated that they would be supportive of a ‘millionaire’s tax’ that would require families with combined annual household income greater than $1,000,000 would pay a special or additional tax.
Canadians want tax fairness
Poll confirms what many activists with the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) campaign, All Together Now! (ATN) have been hearing - Canadians want greater tax fairness in Canada.
According to research conducted for the ATN campaign the richest 1% of Canadians currently pay a lower total tax rate than the poorest 10 per cent.
Rich getting richer
According to the Ipsos Reid poll, when asked what constituted being rich most Canadians gave a household income of $195,000.
However, putting a figure on it doesn't reflect the increasing income inequality in Canada. In the past 12 years, Canada’s top CEOs have seen their salaries go up an average of 444%. In 1995, the top ten earners made a combined total of $60.7 million— by 2007, that number had jumped to about $330 million.
The richest 1% of Canadians doubled their share of income between the late 1970s and 2007; and the richest 0.01% quintupled their share. Meanwhile, average wages in Canada have remained stagnant for about 30 years.
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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