I like the Dental Care funding in this budget. They said NDP is doing a victory lap now. I recalled the news said that Chinese government prefers a liberal minority government. So do I. 😊 I feel that NDP will pull the liberal party to a more progressive direction.
In terms of Parma Care, a recent episode of the Big Story podcast shed some lights on it. A powerful lobby by the pharmaceutical industry is pushing back naturally. NDP said they will give the Liberal end of year as the deadline for it. Can’t wait to see the development on this.
Why are dental and prescription drug not part of universal health care? I guessed majority people deem those are essential for health.
Another piece of Health Care is the additional funding transfer to the provinces. It was already announced prior. I do like the ask by the Federal government more tracking of the spending and measuring results. That is reasonable. Only this way, we can see efficiency and improvement.
The one-time $500 housing benefit top-up for the low-income Canadians launched last year will not be extended. The application will be closed end of this month. It seems that the take-up is low. What a surprise! I think there might be an issue in the execution. People need to log on the CRA My Account online to claim it. They might not be aware of it or they don’t have access to internet. Or the eligibility is too tight. This is a program for low-income renters with adjusted net incomes below $35,000 for families, or $20,000 for individuals who pay at least 30 per cent of their adjusted net income on rent.
I do like more investment in the renewable energy sector. They were forced by the US government huge investment in the green economy and try to be competitive attracting investments. This way, I am glad that US government took the lead and drive changes in other countries too. It would not have happened if Republican or the Conservative still in power. One thing that is controversial is the funding for carbon capture because some see it as continued subsidy for fossil fuels industry.
It introduced a new tax the rich scheme called Alternative minimum tax trying to set a floor of 20.5% tax rate for the rich who use their resources to reduce their tax to almost nothing. The estimated tax revenue is $3 billion in the next 5 years starting from 2024. With these changes, more than 99 per cent of the AMT will be paid by those who earn more than $300,000 per year, with 80 per cent of the AMT being paid by those earning over $1 million annually. Why only 20.5%? Should it be 30% as progressive tax rate entails? Many of us in the middle-income level pay 25% to 30% tax already. I am wondering whether it can be enforced properly and how much additional tax revenue can actually be generated. Can’t wait to see the results.
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