By 9:27 today, top CEOs made more than you probably will all year.
By the time you read these words, Canada’s top 100 CEOs will have already pocketed what it might take you or I the whole year to scrape together.
Yes, you read that correctly. A typical CEO in Canada rakes in a whopping $7,162 per hour, earning the average worker’s full-year salary in just one day, according to new research from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The wealth gap between the ultra-rich and the rest of us is a moral outrage. And it’s only getting worse.
Last year, CEO payouts reached new all-time highs, again. While the rest of us bear the brunt of record-breaking inflation, those at the top are not only weathering the storm—they’re profiting from it.
Year after year, big box groceries, oil and gas giants, pharmaceuticals, banks, insurance companies are reaping extraordinary profits while the rest of us pay.
It’s time to make them pay.
It’s not radical to demand that the wealthy pay their fair share; it’s common sense. The ultra-rich have amassed obscene amounts of wealth, and it’s time that they give back to the society that made their riches possible.
A fair and comprehensive tax on the rich could fund public programs that we desperately need. The government could use these revenues to invest in a just transition to a post-carbon economy, finally roll out a public pharmacare program, rebuild our crumbling public health system, address long-standing water infrastructure challenges on First Nations,build more affordable homes, and radically improve public transit.
Specifically, the federal government must:
- Introduce a wealth tax – an annual tax on net wealth over $10 million
- Implement a windfall tax on large corporations making extraordinarily high profits, particularly in the oil and gas industry
- Raise the corporate income tax rate, which has been significantly slashed over the last two decades
- Shut down loopholes that allow the wealthy to avoid taxes
The federal government committed to addressing wealth inequality back in 2020 but has yet to follow through on the promise.
But across the country – and across regional, demographic, and even party lines – people overwhelmingly support taxing the rich and want the government to act.
We hope you’ll join us in demanding an economy that works for us all, not just the privileged few.
