Revenue Suggestions,
compiled from Workshop Proceedings
Current to March 2, 2006

Executive Summary of UNPAC Workshops

Compilation of Workshop Proceedings

Back to Workshops Page

Key Revenue Suggestions

• Raise Taxes
• Create New Taxes
• Reduce and Re-Evaluate In-Government Spending
• Reduce and Re-Evaluate Other Government Spending
• New Sources of Revenue

The following ideas were generated by workshop participants as part of our gender budget consultations. Please note that this list does not represent the official position of the UN Platform for Action Committee Manitoba (UNPAC). Neither UNPAC nor all of the participants have endorsed these suggestions.

1. Raise Taxes

• Raise corporate taxes
• Higher income earners should pay more taxes and low-income people less
• Close tax loopholes
• Give tax breaks only to businesses doing something for the community ie providing apprenticeships
• Eliminate the ‘Out of Canada’ tax rule
• Tax big businesses like Walmart heavily and/or give incentives to local businesses
• Stop cutting taxes, consider increasing them in order to redistribute wealth
• Extra taxes for corporations that are not socially responsible
• Operating fees for companies that pollute/make money off of polluters penalties
• Create more tax brackets
• Increase sin taxes (i.e. alcohol, cigarettes)
  • Increase fines; i.e., parking and implement greater enforcement of fines
  • Charge more for water use (people waste, this will make them use less)

2. Create New Taxes

• Inheritance tax
• Lottery winnings tax
• Garbage tax
• Gambling tax
• Internet tax on pornography sites and other “stupid” websites
• Junk food tax (use to subsidize health food)
• More and higher taxes on luxury items (i.e. fancy restaurants, designer clothes)
• Gas tax for city driving
• Tax people who don’t recycle
• Tax # of bags of garbage
• Tax vacation, hair loss replacement, penis enlargement, pornography, exotic dancer, massage parlour, fashion/entertainment industry
• Legalize marijuana and tax it!
• Legalize prostitution (tax it!)
• Create different tax rates for different car models — SUVs, sports car

3. Reduce and Re-Evaluate In-Government Spending

• Examine wages/benefits of the leadership/upper management
• Reduce top heavy spending on salary/benefits
• Take a look at duplication of services; increase efficiency
• Government officials should receive lower wages
• Government should audit themselves — why such extravagant spending within government?
• Governments should spend less on promoting themselves and their friends and instead think of good of all
• Greater government accountability
• Spend less on perks
• Get rid of all middle people in government
• Government too top heavy (spend less on administration i.e. RHAs)
  • Too many execs who are out of touch
  • Not enough front-line workers
  • Rather than promoting front-line workers, they bring in people from outside departments
  • No sense of what their policies mean in everyday life
  • Should hire people who have credentials and do a good interview
• Pool constituency assistant services

4. Reduce and Re-Evaluate Other Government Spending

• Hire a “coordinator” who visits all departments and services and make connections, avoid duplication
• Reward government programs that come under budget instead of penalizing them (i.e. If you don’t use your budget by March 31, you’ll lose it next year)
• Fund more neighbourhood initiatives which are cheaper rather than big projects and corporations (i.e. arena)
• Reduce $ going to professional sports teams
• Redistribute existing spending.
  • Lots of waste.
  • Cut programs that are not working.
  • Projects not completed.
  • They don’t spend enough on essential services, but spend a lot on inessentials (office furniture, arena, building condos)
• Use economic development money to provide free (or affordable) education
• Stop paying down debt and deficit and instead spend next ten years on structural stuff like prevention
• Do we need more money? Just use it more wisely and differently. Better coordination of services.
• Think through things, be smarter and more accountable, always jumping on things
• Think about long-term, not just about elections. Consider more long-term investments.
• Throw away current economic system and create a new one
• Change direction of ship — greed versus quality of life — what are government’s values?
• Stop spending so much on crisis and work for the long term — instead of giving them a fish, teach them to fish
• Quit making cigarettes — health care would go down
• Review non-essential health-care, re-allocate money to trained nurses
• Reduce unnecessary diagnostic tests
• Expand homecare
• Spend money on prevention and education — they talk about prevention but we do not see the action.
  • Poverty reduction
  • Health and nutrition
  • Redirect money for drugs into prevention i.e. nutrition, well-being, health
• Use the research available (criminal justice system is costly and doesn’t work. “Club Fed” vacations) Reinvent expensive justice system and move to restorative justice.
• Stop being “litigious”: when everything has to be handled by a lawyer
• Get rid of “grow bond” program — make into program fore women entrepreneurs (Note: UNPAC has later learned that the Grow Bond program has been discontinued and replaced with the new Community Economic Development (CED) Tax Credit Program)
• Eliminate Maintenance Enforcement program as it doesn’t work
• Make child maintenance part of income tax
• Why is the Canadian government giving money to other countries when there is such an obvious need here? Go to reserves, look at the life there — Reality check of own country
• Eliminate dependence on casinos — promotes unhealthy lifestyle and costs a lot!
• Receipts for welfare expenses instead of cheques — accountability
• Create an equalization system within province i.e. Southwest Manitoba (richer) — Interlake (poorer)
• Implement a different way of collecting school tax (not equitable across province)
• Government should connect to community, instead of community connecting to government — less intimidation
• Finance Minister Selinger’s Public Budget Consultation process is good — should be used with other departments. Talk to us — encourage public consultation and involvement. Could reduce spending.

5. New Sources of Revenue

• Lobby federal government for higher transfer payments — update for 2005, it has been decreasing, lowest since WWII (federal government has a surplus, use it!)
• Charge more for natural resources sold to USA i.e. increase price of hydro sales
• Simplify process for foreign healthcare professionals to use their skills (universal accreditation of professionals) and they will earn more and pay more taxes
• Encourage greater immigration of farmers (most farmers from poorer countries can’t afford landing fee but could help revitalize rural Manitoba)
• Create new, sustainable jobs i.e., promote gardening instead of shopping at Safeway
• More accountability for drug money from “busts”/drug seizure. Heavy fines on drug dealers/pushers. Use to fund programs for rehabilitation, etc
• Increase safety downtown and that will increase business/revenue
• Put people back to work through proper training and supports they need and they’ll pay taxes
• Take more off gambling revenue
• Charge higher fees for American hunters and fishers
• Criminalize waste of natural resources