David MacDonald, Senior Economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) speaks to the media as they release the 2013 Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) Tuesday, March 12, 2013 in Ottawa. (Andre Forget/QMI Agency)
OTTAWA -- A left-leaning think-tank wants Canadians to open up their wallets to pay for a slew of new social programs.
But the federal government is turning up its nose at the dream fiscal plan unveiled Tuesday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The centre's economists are calling for a 5 cents per litre tax on sugary pop and energy drinks, a hike in corporate taxes, higher taxes for the wealthiest Canadians, a tax on financial transactions, and a carbon tax.
That cash would then be redistributed to a slew of programs for the arts, long-term infrastructure, national childcare and pharmacare plans, long-term care centres, basic dental care, affordable housing, and cheaper post-secondary tuition.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's press secretary dismissed the centre's document as coming from the "NDP and their left-wing mouthpieces" who "demand tax hikes and big risky spending schemes."
