OTTAWA —The NDP is going after the filthy rich to pay for their election promises.
Thomas Mulcair’s party is promising to raise the corporate tax rate to 17 per cent from 15 per cent as of Jan. 1 to provide the main new source of revenue to fund its election promises.
The specific rate is confirmed as part of a document released by the party Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s leaders’ debate on the economy, hosted by The Globe and Mail.
The seven-page document falls short of a detailed election platform. A chart titled “A balanced plan,” lists seven sources of new revenue, which add up to $7.2-billion in 2016-17 and ramp up to $7.5-billion in 2019-2020.
Wednesday’s announcement provides a general outline of the party’s plans but few details in terms of what exactly would receive funding under the specific categories.
Including money set aside for prudence, the NDP is promising to run surpluses of between $3-billion and $4-billion a year over four years.
Absent from the document is a major pledge to increase foreign aid. NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair had promised earlier this year to set a multiyear target to increase foreign aid to 0.7 per cent of GDP, a pledge that could cost more than $8-billion a year if fully implemented. The party confirmed Wednesday that that foreign-aid target will not be met during the first mandate of an NDP government. The costing plan is vague, outlining only in broad strokes.
And some of their numbers were fuzzy at best.
It became apparent under questioning, for instance, that the long-standing promise that the NDP would continue to escalate health-care funding for the provinces by 6 per cent a year – an escalator that would be reduced by the Conservatives – would include all of the separate health funding announcements that have been made by Mulcair.
The seven sources of new revenue and their projected value in the first year include:
An immediate two-percentage-point increase to the corporate income-tax rate ($3.7-billion)
Tax integrity measures ($500-million)
End fossil-fuel subsidies ($240-million)
Close stock-option loopholes ($500-million)
Repeal income splitting for families with children and reverse the near-doubling of the annual contribution limit to Tax Free Savings Accounts ($2.2-billion)
Reallocate unspent P3 Canada funds ($281-million in year two)
Other revenue measures ($64.8-million)
The eight sources of new spending include:
Jobs and infrastructure – including a cut to the small-business tax rate from 11 to nine per cent ($3-billion)
Health and seniors care ($355-million)
Helping families get ahead ($694-million)
Opportunities for young Canadians ($140-million)
Safe and secure Canada ($184.5-million)
Help where it’s needed most ($572-million)
Stronger communities, stronger democracy ($157.7-million)
Courtesy Globe and Mail
