When we assessed the federal budget—this is the fourth time we do this exercise for a provincial or federal budget—we were struck by the fact that this was the first time that a budget had the net effect of reducing inequalities. Moreover, we felt that all of the measures assessed, and there were 12 of them, would reduce inequalities.
I agree with Mr. Veall and Ms. St-Hilaire: the system to reduce inequalities has to be considered as a whole, and social programs also have to be included. Also, when we talk about reducing inequalities, we have to see what inequalities we are talking about. Are we talking about the inequality between the rich and the poor, between the middle class and the poor, or between the middle class and those with higher incomes?
It is certain that increasing income tax on incomes of $200,000 and more will not solve the inequalities between the middle class and the poor, but that was not the objective. The objective of this measure is not to collect money, but to place a cap on the capacity of the 1% to increase their income, because we know that this has adverse effects on the economy and brings about a series of other social ills.