TURKEY DRIVES AND TAX CUTS

The CBC’s annual act of charity to support Island food banks is over for this year, and we are told the need is greater than ever. Ironically, as the annual turkey drive here and across the country wound down, the minority Liberal government announced that its first act will be a “middle class” tax cut.

No plan mentioned to deal with rising poverty and food insecurity in the country. No announcement that charitable food and turkey drives are not the answer to feeding hungry families. No plan to deal with the housing crisis sweeping P.E.I. and the country.

Instead, a $6 billion annual tax cut over the next three years that benefits those that need it least, and nothing for those who need support most. Tax cuts aimed at the “middle class” offer very little to people with lower incomes, fixed incomes, and people living in poverty.

Finance Canada (Department of Finance) projects the tax cut will leave federal coffers short $25 billion between now and 2024-25.

Tax cuts disproportionally benefit high-income earners. And not only that, they take billions of dollars from much needed publicly funded programs that benefit everyone.

There are many better ways to make that $25 billion work for all. For example, we need universal public pharmacare and dental care, improved social assistance, a national plan for seniors, affordable childcare, timely access to mental health care, a plan to eradicate poverty, protection of our fresh water, and the pressing need to bring safe drinking water and sanitation to many indigenous communities across the country.

Let’s invest in these publicly funded programs so all people in Canada can grow and live in dignity.

Leo Broderick, Charlottetown