Billions siphoned to wealthy, corporations, as Ontarians struggle with affordability, unemployment: CUPE Ontario comment on FES

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TORONTO — As millions in the province struggle to pay rent, buy groceries, and find jobs that let them make ends meet, the Ford Conservatives are playing a shell game of hidden tax dodges and loopholes that benefit the rich and big business, said CUPE Ontario in its review of today’s Fall Economic Statement (FES).

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CUPE Ontario took aim at Taxation Transparency Report that was released as part of the FES. The report details the billions of dollars in foregone revenue through tax expenditures. On paper, these are deductions, credits and exemptions claimed by business and individuals; in practice, however, too many are tax breaks, loopholes, and hidden spending programs that benefit corporations and the wealthy far more than they help working families.

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Based on today’s Tax Transparency Report, tax expenditures cost Ontario a staggering $63 billion in provincial revenue every year, even as the government guts public services and denies thousands of public sector workers the wages that were stolen from them under Bill 124.

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“The use of tax expenditures has skyrocketed under Ford’s Conservatives,” said CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn. “They love tax expenditures because it’s a way of hiding their largesse toward the rich and powerful, even as they rob our hospitals, schools, and other public services of the funding they need.”

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According to Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office, the wealthiest 20% of Ontario families receive 43% of the total benefits from personal income tax expenditures. On the corporate side, lobbyists ensure that businesses like mining companies and alcohol brewers get their share of tax holidays.

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Tax expenditures also avoid the kind of debate, media attention, and public scrutiny that direct spending programs – like the Skills Development Program – are subject to. Yet tax credits can remain tucked away in the tax code and persist for years without accountability.

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“That’s why ‘transparency’ about the size of foregone revenue isn’t enough. We need to understand the profound impact these disguised giveaways have on our province,” said Hahn. “Because currently, the Ford government is taking billions out of our economy at a time when a million people in Ontario – 25% more than last year – rely on food banks, and 2.5 million of us still don’t have a family doctor.

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“It’s time for this government to end the hidden tax breaks, share resources equitably, and govern for the people.”

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