Trudeau’s hypocrisy

Re: Trudeau warns black-tie gala to ‘get real', Feb. 18

Prime Minister Trudeau, in a speech to a Hamburg conference, rightly criticizes the growing inequality of the world’s haves and have-nots.

Yet this is the same PM who recently renewed one of the most inequitable policies of all — that is, allowing employment stock options to be taxed favourably as capital gains rather than regular employment income. When many are questioning the significantly widening gulf between the top one-per-cent earners and the average worker, this policy is the epitome of exacerbating that problem.

But not only is this legislation regressive, it is nonsensical. That is because where two individuals who are contributing equal value to their respective companies and indeed are being remunerated the exact same total amount, one is shortchanged simply by virtue of his/her company/ organization lacking stock options.

Hence he/she essentially transfers their wages to employees with options because of the increased income taxes they pay to compensate for the government’s revenue shortfall. Ross Hollingshead, Toronto