This Saturday: Rally with Occupy Vancouver in Support of a Robin Hood Tax

Where: Vancouver Art Gallery

When: Noon, Saturday October 29th

Rallies, sit-ins, and occupations will be held in cities across the United States and Canada this Saturday in support of fair taxes.

In Vancouver, members of the labour movement will show our support by joining Occupy Vancouver events at 12:00 noon at the Vancouver Art Gallery with a march at 1:00 p.m. We hope you’ll join us.

What is a Robin Hood Tax?

The Robin Hood Tax is a tiny tax (0.05%) that would be levied on all financial market transactions in order to raise resources for fighting poverty and climate change at home and abroad. It would cover financial transactions traded through stock exchanges, futures exchanges or any other facility established for the purpose of trading (“exchange trading”) by financial market actors.

What would a Robin Hood Tax do?

 * raise billions of dollars for fighting poverty and climate change at home and abroad

 * make sure banks and the financial sector pay their fair share of the economic recovery

 * help curb destabilizing financial speculation

What Does this Mean for Canada? 

Between December 1998 and March 1999, Canadians rallied in support of a Private Member’s Motion in the House of Commons, which stated, “that in the opinion of the House, the government should enact a tax on financial transactions in concert with the international community.”

As a result of widespread public support, the motion passed by a resounding margin of 164-83 on March 23, 1999. Canada became the first country in the world to declare its intention to work towards the adoption of a tax to control international currency speculation.

Unfortunately, the current government is showing no leadership on the issue.  Stephen Harper and Jim Flaherty have both as yet rejected the idea of the tax.

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Please join us October 29th

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In Vancouver, members of the labour movement will show our support by joining Occupy Vancouver events at 12:00 noon at the Vancouver Art Gallery with a march at 1:00 p.m.

 Vancouver, BC – Members of the BC Federation of Labour will gather at the Vancouver Art Gallery at 12:00 noon, Saturday, October 15th, in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement’s call for good jobs, fair taxes and strong public services.

In a statement released today, Jim Sinclair, the President of the BC Federation of Labour said:

“Well paying jobs, fair taxation and strong public services built the Canada we know and love. For 20 years across Canada, real wages have stagnated, the richest Canadians have avoided billions in taxes, and successive governments have weakened public services. This has created a gap between rich and poor not seen in generations, and the gap is widening.

The Occupy Wall Street movement expresses an underlying desire for fairness, equality and opportunity in the economy and our society. The BC Federation of Labour stands in solidarity with that desire, and calls on the governments of British Columbia and Canada to act swiftly and decisively to narrow the gap.”

The BC Federation of Labour also announced that it will continue to support an ongoing peaceful occupation in Vancouver on these important issues.

Sinclair said that hundreds of similar events were being held across North America, in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement and that members of the labour movement would be participating in events in communities throughout BC and Canada.

“This day is an opportunity for people around North America to clearly and peacefully express their desire for fairness and equality in our society and our economy.”

For more information contact Michael Gardiner 778-836-2108

Global economic uncertainty is shining a bright light on the rapidly growing gap between rich and poor in North America and around the world. In the United States, the consequences have been widespread and severe. Real unemployment is approaching 20 percent. People are losing their homes to foreclosures. And, for the first time in generations, few young Americans believe their lives will be as prosperous and secure as their parents.

Here, well paying jobs, fair taxation and strong public services built the Canada we know and love. For 20 years across Canada, however, real wages have stagnated, the richest Canadians and corporations have avoided billions in taxes, and successive governments have weakened public services. This has created a gap between rich and poor not seen in generations, and the gap is widening.

The Conference Board of Canada has identified that Canada had the second largest rate of income inequality growth among peer nations from the mid-1990’s to the mid-2000’s. Clearly, many of the same conditions that have lead to the Wall Street action exist in Canada as well.

In British Columbia, a decade of tax cuts for the richest British Columbians and corporations combined with stagnant wages for average income earners have left British Columbia families struggling to make ends meet and nervous about their futures. As the cost of living has increased, household debt has piled up and savings eroded. This has got to stop.

The Occupy Wall Street movement expresses an underlying desire for fairness, equality and opportunity in the economy and our society. The B.C. Federation of Labour stands in solidarity with that desire, as part of the 99 percent, and calls on the governments of British Columbia and Canada to act swiftly and decisively to narrow the gap. The BC Federation of Labour will support an ongoing peaceful occupation in Vancouver on these important issues.

OTTAWA - A private member’s bill to force unions to disclose how they spend hundreds of millions of dollars in dues is not part of a larger plot to intimidate the labour movement and expose the relationship unions have with the NDP, says the MP who penned the legislation.

“It’s a bit of a coincidence. That’s the truth of it,” Russ Hiebert said about the timing of his bill to amend the Income Tax Act after some of the scuffles the Conservatives had with unions this summer.

The Conservatives ended a postal disruption with back-to-work legislation, twice threatened legislation to bring Air Canada workers back to the negotiating table and filed a complaint with Elections Canada about union involvement in the NDP’s spring convention.

Hiebert says his bill was in the works a year ago, and he wants unions to come in from the shadows and do what charities and others do by publicly disclosing, in the name of transparency and accountability, how they spend dues that are tax deductible to the workers who pay them.

“People might want to make some kind of connection, but there’s really not. This is simply Russ Hiebert, backbench MP, thinking about how I can contribute to the public dialogue and to the strength of our democracy, and I happen to believe that public disclosure does that.”

The NDP wasn’t buying it. Nor was Canada’s largest union.

“It’s another attack on the workers,” interim leader Nycole Turmel said outside the Commons.

Paul Moist, president of the 610,000-member Canadian Union of Public Employees, said his union is already constitutionally bound to release audited financial statements of its spending.

“On behalf of the largest union in the country I find it irritating, ideological and a bit of a cure for a non-existent ailment,” he said about the bill. “It’s nine parts ideological, one part business.”

Yesterday, Conservative Member of Parliament Russ Hiebert (South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale, BC), introduced a Private Members Bill which seeks unions to disclose how they spend union dues.

Mr. Hiebert denies that this is part of a larger plot to intimidate the labour movement.  He argues that it would bring union accountability in line with what charities must comply with.  It is pretty clear that this Government is trying to do everything in its powers to attack unions – this will be one more tool they will use.

Normally, it is very difficult for a Member of Parliament to have their Private Members’ Bill passed.  However, since this bill is coming from Conservative Member of Parliament,  there is a good chance it will pass since the Conservatives have the majority Government; especially since I expect the Government (the Prime Minister and his Cabinet) supports this Bill

I would not be surprised if the Prime Minister’s Office  wrote the Bill; they can use this process to shield themselves. The Government can argue it is a Private Members’ Bill and not a Government Bill – try to argue they are not behind it.

A electronic version of the Bill should be available later today or tomorrow. The devil will be in the details, in particular, who will be covered by this legislation. I raise this point because I am not sure how the legislation will impact us. If the legislation does impact us, it should also mean that it will impact CLAC and they would have to disclose how they spend their dues.  Again, we will need to wait and see how the legislation is worded.

Depending on how the legislation impacts us, we should consider where we stand and whether or not we want to make representation on the legislation when the time comes.  We will speak to the Building Trades and the CLC  on this matter to see where they stand and what they will be doing.

The Process

The Bill will be debated at Second Reading  in the House of Commons – there will be 2 one-hour debates on the Bill; the first hour of debate is today and the second hour will be in 30 sitting days (end of November). If the Bill is passed at Second Reading, it will be referred to a Standing Committee where the Committee will than ask for witnesses to appear to discuss the Bill (the timeframe and length of these hearings will be determined by the Committee (which is dominated by the Conservatives). Once the Committee has heard all witnesses, they will vote on the Bill and if passed it goes back to the House of Commons for a Third and final reading. If passed, it becomes law – this could occur sometime early next year (later winter/early spring).