Despite the enthusiastic cries ‘of we’re in this together!’, there's no question: the greatest impacts of the COVID crisis have been felt by those who are most vulnerable. [1]
The climate crisis will be no different: the increasing severity and frequency of extreme heat, wildfires and flooding put the most vulnerable at risk, something that was brought devastatingly into focus with the loss of 570 lives to the record-breaking heatwave this past June in B.C. [2]
And while the federal government made promises last Fall to address growing inequality, [3] we haven’t seen the tangible action we need to confront the widening gap between the rich and the rest. In fact the opposite has happened: research now shows the ultra-rich in Canada increased their wealth by a whopping $78 billion during the pandemic, while families and essential workers struggled. [4]
It doesn’t have to be this way. We can invest now in infrastructure that will ease the impacts of climate change already set in motion, while getting off fossil fuels and protecting crucial natural ecosystems for a climate-safe future. But we are running out of time.
With the upcoming federal election, we have a clear opportunity to fund our future and disrupt the vicious feedback loops that keep siphoning resources to the top: it starts with a wealth tax, which has the potential to generate more revenue than previously thought ($10–20 billion in the first year alone). [5]
And this is what voters want: a new poll shows 89% of Canadians – across party lines – want to see a wealth tax on the ultra-rich to pay for a green and just recovery from COVID-19. [6] But are those currently on the campaign trail listening?
Join us in making a wealth tax a key ballot box issue this election! Send a clear message: Canadians want their leaders to immediately implement a wealth tax on the ultra-rich – to take bold action on the climate crisis and put people and planet first.
[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pandemic-covid-coronavirus-cerb-unemployment-1.5610404
[2] https://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/story/49627/extreme-heat-events-affect-the-vulnerable-the-most-this-must-change/
[3] https://globalnews.ca/video/7284869/freeland-says-restart-of-economy-needs-to-be-green-equitable/
[4] https://www.policynote.ca/the-rich-and-the-rest-of-us/
[5] https://www.policynote.ca/tax-the-rich/
[6] https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/abacus_poll_tax
Tell the government to implement a wealth tax
To make the ultra-rich pay their fair share to fund a green and #JustRecovery.
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