Finance committee  No, no.

Finance committee  No, we are a very successful country. We're equal to the 10 to 15 best, no question.

Finance committee  Yes. That's more complicated to understand. Just because something was done in the past for some groups doesn't mean we continue to go down that road, in that direction. We can go in another direction of a fairer tax system, looking at that whole category.

Finance committee  We, Canadians, and you on our behalf, make these decisions. Humans made those decisions.

Finance committee  That is another category like unemployment insurance where over time it has not kept up with inflation. We know who those people are and what kind of need they're in, and it's pretty easy to address—not all at once, but year by year doing something a bit more in all of those cate

Finance committee  Well, it's quite obvious those cost money. They transfer money to people who do those things. I've maxed out, because I can, on the tax-free income savings plan, but the majority of Canadians can't do that. Why do that? That's just one of many, many small and some very large tax

Finance committee  No. It was announced. Today'sToronto Star has an op-ed by Michael Shapcott, which explains that $253 million. People involved cannot even get answers from the senior government officials about that money, why nothing is happening. Many of the provinces are ready to go. This was

Finance committee  For good quality jobs, we have to lift up the bottom wage. It's been the growth of the service sector over these 20, 30 years.... Canadians can afford to pay a bit more for the average goods they buy. Strengthening our labour laws and lifting that bottom up little by little will

Finance committee  The answer is yes, and it's been well proven, particularly by people who study health in a very broad way, the health of a society. These 12 other countries like Canada that are equally strong economically but are way more equal have way better outcomes in all kinds of measures f

Finance committee  Thank you. I'm pleased to have been invited. In a democracy, government budgets reflect democratic compromise. This is true in most western democracies where voters are proportionately represented in Parliament based on election outcomes. As we know, this is not true in the cas