By Asia Samachar | Canada |
Political leader Jagmeet Singh is the ‘closest thing’ to a present day Robin Hood for Canadians preparing to vote in a snap national polls on Monday (Sept 20).
The leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), a social-democratic federal political party trying to break the hold of two larger parties, has been splashed on the cover of a Canadian weekly.
“In this year’s Canadian election, the closest thing to Robin Hood is NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who’s the politician most eager to take from the rich. And in his world, there are two Sheriffs of Nottingham protecting the oligarchs — Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole,” reads the article in The Georgia Straight. The dashing Jagmeet was on the cover page.
The Georgia Straight is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in a large ‘tabloid’ format in Vancouver, British Columbia, by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp.
Prime Minister Trudeau called for the general elections two years early in an attempt to seek a fresh mandate for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. He was leading a minority government.
The article pulled up a quote of what told Jagmeet told reporters on September 11 during a campaign stop in Vancouver Granville.
“One of the key problems that we’re highlighting—whether it’s with the climate crisis, whether it’s with a rigged economy, or whether it’s with housing—we’re saying really clearly, ‘The billionaires are making out like bandits.’ Whether that’s in the housing market or the biggest polluters or in the economy: those at the very top continue to exploit the system, and Liberals and Conservatives have let them do it.”
“Our offer to Canadians, what makes us really different is, we’re going to take them on directly,” Singh continued. “We’re the only party that’s said we’re going to tax the billionaires. We’re going to take on the superwealthy. And we’re going to make sure companies like Amazon start paying their fair share.”
With Singh’s oft-stated mantras about taxing the ultrarich and the billionaires, he has positioned himself outside the boundaries of traditional Liberal-Conservative thinking, the report said.
In addressing these issues, the article said that Jagmeet has demonstrated his Robin Hood approach through various policy prescriptions, including a one percent wealth tax on those with assets of $10 million or more. This, he claims, would generate about $13 billion per year in revenue by the fifth year of an NDP federal government.
Also under a federal NDP government, people earning more than $210,000 in annual income would face a top marginal tax rate of 35 percent, up from 33 percent. It’s not a huge hike, but enough to send a signal that this NDP is more inclined to pluck the wealthier geese to a greater degree than either Trudeau or O’Toole, the report added.
In addition, it said Jagmeet has proposed boosting capital-gains taxes on investors in the stock market by lifting the inclusion rate from 50 percent to 75 percent. This means that investors would have to multiply any gain by this amount to determine their taxable capital gain. It’s a move that the NDP says will generate more than $10 billion per year in the final two years of its five-year fiscal plan.
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Singh: The compassionate brother who draws on suits, social media and spirituality (Asia Samachar, 5 Sept 2021)
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