An open Letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Congrats on the win, now it is time to get to work. Bring forth a legislative agenda to rock Canada with progressive legislation that helps clear the way from the destruction left by Stephen Harper’s government.

• Legalise Marijuana. You ran on this, time to deliver. But, least this become a freak show, free for all, it must have limits. I think that we need to commercialise it and tax it. The best way to do so is treat it as if it was a new round of cigarettes. Simple as that! Collect tax revenue from it as well.
• Call off your tired old morals or something like that. The courts ruled the old prostitution laws where unconditional. So the Harper government brought in even worse laws. Get rid of them all. Again legalise it, make it a legitimate business and then, you got it, tax it. Require a license, that needs a medical exam, and a check or proof the person is over 18, and we cut out organized crime, the trafficking of women to fill this niche and under age prostitution. Best of all, we collect GST on the whole exchange.
• Pass private member bill C-204, or whatever it will be called, allowing for gender identity and gender expression added to the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code. A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian. Let’s add one of the most vulnerable groups to becoming full citizens. (Note that this will be introduced in the House of Commons next week. Score one for the good guys!)

People say this is all too simplistic. We need to study the ramifications of this all before we go forward. Really? “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  Albert Einstein. Let’s try something new. In one draft we have added two new sources of sin tax to Revenue Canada’s collection plate, decriminalised many acts that people were going to do regardless of what the law says, and last we embrace a sub group of Canadians who have been sorely abused by our neglect.

But wait, you think that is radical? I have one more thing to say. If the above is radical, then the next piece of advice is revolutionary. Surely, it will burn down Main Street in its wake. But… the tax revenue it will generate will be enormous. Take the follow, you go to the store and buy yourself some chips and a coke. You pay the lady at the counter the price for both and she charges you provincial sales tax and Good and Services Tax from the federal government. In Quebec, this amounts to some 15.5% which is a large bit out of your wallet. I will only ask that we collect the same amount of taxes that corporations are charging! I suggest that we tax all stock trades at 1.5% of purchase price. This is the same amount that you will get charged by the trading company or trader that you deal with. The difference is this. Whereas GST hits all Canadians as a regressive tax, this tax only affects the very wealthy and the rich. The TSX could generate tax revenue nearing 3 million dollars per day, perhaps as much as a billion dollars per year or more. Best of all, this sort of tax effects only the wealthiest of people and spares the middle class from its reach. Same deal for my last suggestion. Presently, there is no inheritance tax for wealthy Canadians. So for those with estates worth over 100 million dollars, we should charge them 1%. The counter is that this money was already taxed once and would now be taxed a second time. While this is true, the money belongs to a dead person who seemingly no longer has any use for it. But seriously, the money was made by the help of Canadian society to raise it, safe guard it and now can be used again to help Canadians. The only people who would complain are those who inherit it. They are merely not getting as much as they would have and 1% less is hardly noticeable for the estate. But it will help out the deficit and other social needs of Canadians.

So in short, here is a legislative agenda bordering on revolutionary. Best of all, it amounts to untapped sources of revenue that government can use to pay from infrastructure, education and health care. These bills that are due today and need funding at an ever increasing amount will need to be paid from somewhere. New sources for revenue must be found. And the middle class cannot be where the money comes from. They already pay their share. Take a small bit from the rich or charging people tax on new forms of legal entertainment are a great way to help out the public purse.