except this is real life not a theoretical utopia. do you honestly think increasing taxes has any effect on creating a happier, abundantly employed and wealth population?

yes, there is definitely an affordability issue with the lowest income portion of the population. i dont think increasing taxes on the rest of the workforce has an overall net positive on society.

there is definitely a feel good to "if i pay more in taxes, and that helps people, then ill pay more in taxes" but the reality is that doesnt happen. it just pumps more money into government spending that doesn't have a noticeable difference in any segment.

canadas federal budget in 2015 had an expenditure of $288b. in 2017, that rose to $330b including $30b of deficit. that is a 15% increase in budget spending worth over $40billion. has that $40 billion made anyones lives better? all i, and everyone i know, notice, is that we're paying more in taxes, and shits getting more expensive.

Denmark isn’t a theoretical utopia.
Look man, I don’t know the answer, I really don’t. It’s just time to try something. The only thing that I can see that is a consistent between all the countries we should aspire to be is high taxes, which equal access to higher education for EVERYONE, not just the wealthy.
Access to healthcare for everyone, which I’m proud to live in a country that has that, although it’s not perfect.
And in modern times, a living wage is helping close income disparity, creating a happier population, and in turn creating safer countries.
The most important part with the higher taxes will be an independent audit of government spending.
All I know is America is complete shit to live in, so let’s make sure we don’t head that way because we feel like we need to separate ourselves from our government instead of trying to hold them accountable and give them the resources to do what we need them to.

seems in-line with BC NDP?

It is.

There will always be poor/low income/homeless people. And there will always be more poor people than rich people. Is been like this since we humans lived.

Let's be real here no likes to pay more tax. More tax means I have less spending. Less spending means less buying power. Less buying power means less money for business and thus they either fold up, fire some people off, increase their pricing to make up for the lose revenue.

We already have enough tax as it is. Income tax, GST, PST, carbon tax, property tax, property sales transfer tax and the list goes on. How about people start working harder and stop feeling so entitle? You know when you hear people complain "I was born and raise in Vancouver therefore I deserve to own a house in Vancouver." Sorry but you deserve nothing.

^One question............

Why are you here?

Yes. Throw my money at the problem, please. I don't pay enough taxes already.
I find it amazing how the left thinks the cure to the sickness is more sickness.
I'm actually glad Trudeau hasn't done anything (except hike taxes) since being elected. Imagine the deficit if he had?
This country is already so far left it's damn near socialist. We don't need to go further left thank you.

You want a glimpse of what our future with the NDP looks like, just have a look at Alberta. Notley's NDP single handedly strangled their thriving economy. And Horgan will do the same to this resource rich province as well.
Come 2019, when our deficit is through the roof, and the economy is stagnant at best, the last thing we'll need is more head in the clouds tax and spend.
That's my opinion anyways. And I can only pray that others have had enough by then as well.

That's a matter of opinion; some would say we do.

If the whole world is ever going to "come together" peacefully, it is only going to be on "the left". The Muslims tried it on "the right" 600 years ago, followed by conquistadors, more empires, Nazis, etc.

And eventually, the world will need to come together.

Welfare, blaming the Alberta economy on the NDP says a lot about your knowledge of how economics work.
You forget about Alberta’s largest economic factor dropping by half in a year?

So it's just a coincidence that shell dropped it's contract the day after the NDP released it's first budget?

Shell did it because the operation wasn’t profitable enough for them. Carbon tax may have been the straw that broke the camels back, but doesn’t nearly contribute to the decision like a drop to 30 dollars a barrel did.
If the 30 some odd years of conservatives put enough taxes in the bank instead of handing out “Ralph bucks” the carbon tax wouldn’t have been necessary.

Let's just ignore the fact that it was part of their $30B divestment plan that they announced 2 years prior to that ...

I was going to say, oil prices crashed in 2014 and Notley was elected in 2015.

Blaming that on her is complete stupidity. If you want someone to blame, blame OPEC.

You can also put the blame on the government of Alberta. When oil was booming, they should've been diversifying their economy by incentivizing other industries.

Shall I rail off communist regimes which have resulted in mass death and starvation?

We're arguing extremes.
Fact of the matter is, capitalism is the freest, fairest, form of enterprise.
And capitalism is what builds economies

Times are changing though. Technology is quickly approaching the point where

- Money will be easier to make than ever for capitalists
- There will be far less jobs available

Capitalism and consumerism seems to have a limit to where it can take us, and I am pretty sure we're just reaching the end of the honeymoon period.

Eventually we will HAVE to look at more 'uncomfortably left' policies such as universal income, or things will get even worse than ever.

Just don't be taken by the leftist nutballs you see on youtube and hear about in the news. It's just an opinion of what people think is the best way to give as many humans as much freedom as possible, allowing mankind to progress further and faster.

Whether it was a straw or not, it broke the camel's back.
I suppose you believe petronas cancellation of the BC LNG project was due to "market changes" as well LMAO. These NDP work quick. 13b$ project down the drain

Yes, it sounds shiny and beautiful and all. But it's missing one important ingredient. Incentive

Incentive to do what?

I think he believes people will be so happy with their basic income of 1k a month that no one will work anymore.
The truest killer of incentive is the cycle of living paycheque to paycheque without the belief that higher education or skill acquisition will destine them to a life of debt they can not climb out of (if they would even be able to be approved for those debts.)
Its not like everyone just gets 50k a year that the people who make 100k a year have to pay for in these instances. Their is no better motivation than removing the feeling of someone being trapped at a lower socioeconomic class.

Ah, the old "lazy welfare bum" argument.

You realize Canada ranks amongst the highest of developed countries in social mobility?
This idea that people in lower income levels stay in lower income levels does not jive with statistics.
Economic classes are in constant flux. They don't remain stationary.

The incentive comment was under the impression we were having a discussion on socialism vs capitalism

Yes. Universal income. Ie, socialism.
Where is the incentive to perform? To excel?

Does that take into account that the middle class wages are remaining stagnant while cost of living climbs?

Maybe .. just maybe ... a passion for what you do?

Socialism/UBI is about allowing people the freedom to pursue what they want to naturally gravitate towards, regardless of potential income. In theory that would result in higher quality productivity.

Most artists and writers don't become artists or writers because they want to get rich; because as the old joke goes, you'll be a broke ass barista with a arts degree. Yet we covet those who pull through.

Imagine if people had the freedom to purse similar passions without having to worry about roof over their head or food on the table? It could be for crafts like woodworking or basically anything that isn't tied to some fundamental idea where we are trying to sell each other things all the time.