Introduction

I have pointed out that the major Canadian unions use cliches like “fair contracts.” (see for example the posts on the two largest Canadian unions Fair Contracts (or Fair Collective Agreements): The Ideological Rhetoric of Canadian Unions, Part One: The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and Fair Contracts or Collective Agreements: The Ideological Rhetoric of Canadian Unions, Part Three: Unifor (Largest Private Union in Canada)).  In this post, I will show that the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the umbrella Canadian organization of many unions in Canada, representing around 3.3 million workers, uses another social-reformist or social-democratic cliche: corporations should pay their “fair share of taxes.”

Let us look at this phrase for a moment. For corporations to pay their “fair share of taxes,” it is necessary that corporations in some way express something fair. If, for example, corporations were based on slave labour, would unions and social democrats call for the corporations paying their “fair share of taxes?” Or would they call for the abolition of such corporations since slave labour as such is unfair–no matter what the proportion of taxes corporations paid?

To call for corporations to pay their fair share of taxes assumes, without question, the legitimacy of corporations and the profit they receive. However, the profit corporations obtain is a result of the exploitation and oppression of workers (see for example The Rate of Exploitation of AB (Anheuser-Busch) InBev NV (Including Labatt) Workers or The Rate of Exploitation of Workers at Metro, One of the Largest Private Employers in Quebec, or: How Unionized Jobs Are Not Decent or Good Jobs  or The Money Circuit of Capital or  Employers as Dictators, Part One). To talk about corporations paying their fair share of taxes involves implicitly accepting and legitimating such exploitation and oppression.

Hardly any of the so-called left question the use of such phrases by these unions.

I have compiled some quotes from publications or notices of the CLC. For the most part, emphases (bold) are mine.

Corporations Paying Their Fair Share of Taxes: Another Cliche or Abstract Slogan of the Social-Reformist or Social-Democratic Left

1. From October 4, 2024 (https://canadianlabour.ca/a-better-deal-for-workers-how-decent-work-can-build-a-better-future-for-workers/): 

Wealthy corporations inflate prices while dodging their fair share of taxes, benefiting only those at the top. 

A decent place to live and raise a family should not be a luxury. Yet, the housing crisis, driven by sky-high interest rates and corporate profiteering, has made home ownership out of reach for too many. Meanwhile, our paychecks are stretched thin, and families are left struggling as corporate profits soar. 

It’s time to demand a fair deal for workers—one that puts working people and their families at the forefront of a more equitable future. By ensuring that corporations pay their fair share, we can reinvest in our communities—making life more affordable, strengthening care systems, and ensuring that everyone has access to safe, affordable housing.

2. From September 23, 2024 (https://canadianlabour.ca/gender-equality-week-2024-women-deserve-a-better-deal/): 

Gender Equality Week 2024: Women deserve a better deal

Take action for Gender Equality Week 2024! Join our Workers Together campaign and tell federal political leaders:

We demand a better deal that makes corporations pay their fair share so workers can finally get ahead.

By making wealthy corporations pay their due in taxes, we can reinvest in the things that keep our communities strong, like programs to make life more affordable, our care systems, and ensuring everyone has a place to call home.

3. From CANADA’S UNIONS CALL ON MPs TO PRIORITIZE WORKERS IN UPCOMING PARLIAMENTARY SESSION
September 16, 2024

4. From August 31, 2024 (https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-hamilton-spectator/20240831/281840059020197): 

It’s time for a better deal for workers

We need to end corporate greed and make those who have benefited the most contribute their fair share

BEA BRUSKE
BEA BRUSKE IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS.

Workers are the backbone of our economy. Every day we power industries, drive innovation and support communities. Yet, as we work to keep Canada running, we face an ever-growing financial squeeze.

Housing, a basic human right, has become a luxury few can afford. Paycheques, already stretched thin, can no longer cover basic necessities. Grocery bills, utilities and other essentials that form the bedrock of our daily lives are becoming increasingly unaffordable, pushing families to the brink. Meanwhile, corporations and the wealthiest individuals are reaping record profits.

This stark contrast is not just unfair — it’s unsustainable. By inflating prices, hoarding profits and dodging taxes, corporations shift the financial burden onto ordinary Canadians.

It’s time to end corporate greed and make those who have benefited the most contribute their fair share.

5. From Standing Committee on Financa (FINA), June 18, 2024 (  

https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/FINA/meeting-150/evidence): 

From the Canadian Labour Congress, we have Bea Bruske, president. …

Thank you so much, Chair and committee members.

My name is Bea Bruske. I’m the president of the Canadian Labour Congress. The CLC represents national and international unions, with more than three million members from coast to coast to coast in virtually every sector and industry in this country. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on behalf of them and to let you know that the CLC strongly supports the government’s decision to more fairly tax capital gains.

Most Canadians assume that a dollar of income is a dollar of income, whether you earned it at a job or through a productive investment, but that’s not the case when it comes to taxes. When you earn your income by flipping burgers 100% of that income is taxable, but when you earn your income by flipping stocks only 50% of that income is taxable. We don’t think, quite frankly, that’s fair. How can anyone justify that a dollar earned through your hard work should be taxed at a higher rate than a dollar reaped through ownership and investments?

Let’s look at a real-life example. My first job was at a grocery store. In 2020, in the toughest days of the pandemic, before workers even knew what they were dealing with, they had to go to work at grocery stores so that we could keep on eating, while many of us had the opportunity to work from home. Those grocery store workers, whom we are grateful for, bravely working on those front lines, for a few months in 2020 got an extra $2 per hour in “hero pay”. Every single cent of that dollar of hero pay was taxed. That same year, a Canadian billionaire bought and sold shares in one of our country’s largest forestry companies, netting capital gains of more than $9 million. Only half of that windfall was taxable. That billionaire pocketed $4.5 million tax-free. That’s $4.5 million in tax-free capital gains. That’s more money than the average worker will see in their lifetime.

When we put ourselves in the shoes of the average working person for a minute, we have to understand that is not fair. Canadians work hard and they pay taxes on their earnings. Those taxes that come off our paycheques support the schools for our kids, health care for ourselves and our loved ones, roads and public transit, parks, libraries and every other vital public service that we rely upon. Working people want and need strong, good-quality public services. We deserve safe, healthy and vibrant communities, and we are very much prepared to do our part to support that. What we insist on, however, is that everyone pay their fair share, that income is treated as income whether you’re taxing a worker flipping burgers for a living or a CEO flipping stocks to make millions more.

Over the past few years, working people in Canada have struggled to keep up with the rising cost of living, and they know perfectly well that not everybody else is struggling as well. Canadians can see corporate CEOs and wealthy investors profiting from price gouging, and it’s extremely frustrating to know that CEOs are ripping off ordinary people while getting preferential tax treatment on top of it. To know that our tax system taxes capital gains more lightly than workers’ wages is infuriating. For many workers, the unfairness in the tax system adds insult to injury.

Opponents of this important but modest tax change are trying to distract with stories about family farms and family doctors. Make no mistake that the vast majority of untaxed capital gains are collected by people like the billionaire I mentioned earlier. Canadians know that the rich do not pay their fair share of taxes, and the data proves that. A recent study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives shows that, once all forms of income and taxes are accounted for, those receiving the top 1% of income in this country pay a lower tax rate than those in the bottom 99%. The treatment of capital gains is an important reason for that unfair outcome. For working people it’s very obvious that we need fair tax rules. Those who have the means need to pay their fair share. Fair taxes for the ultrawealthy are essential for making life more affordable for everyone else, and that’s why we support the changes to the capital gains inclusion rate.

I urge all parliamentarians to ask themselves a simple question: Do you think it’s fair that a worker flipping burgers is taxed on 100% of his or her income while a CEO, making millions from flipping stocks, is taxed on only 50% of that income? If you don’t think it’s fair, then you need to support the small measure of tax fairness. If you do think it’s fair, then please do not tell me that you are on the side of working Canadians.

Thank you, and we’re pleased to answer questions

6. From September 10, 2022 (https://financialpost.com/globe-newswire/clc-poilievre-and-the-conservatives-cant-be-trusted-to-stand-up-for-workers): 

CLC: Poilievre and the Conservatives Can’t Be Trusted To Stand Up for Workers

Bruske [president of the CLC] noted that while the evidence clearly shows wages are not contributing to rising inflation, ‘greedflation’ by large corporations – who are taking advantage of the inflation to raise prices – is helping to drive up the cost of living.

“While workers and their families see their buying power decreasing, Mr. Poilievre ignores the real problem. It is critical people see through his glib rhetoric to what his real plans are for our country,” explained Bruske. “All we hear from Mr. Poilievre are vague sound bites about freedom. But he isn’t talking about your freedom to make a fair wage or the freedom to make greedy corporations pay their fair share.”

7. From May 25, 2022, Labour and health advocates react to report on corporate behaviour in long-term care, by Pat Van Horne USW member of the CHC Board of Directors   (https://www.healthcoalition.ca/labour-and-health-advocates-react-to-report-on-corporate-behaviour-in-long-term-care/): 

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has reacted to a new report showing that billions of dollars in public funds for long-term care (LTC) have been diverted from patient care into the pockets of shareholders.

“This report is brutal evidence of higher death rates and lower levels of care at for‑profit long‑term care homes,” said CLC President Bea Bruske, in response to Careless Profits, a report by Canadians For Tax Fairness. The CLC and several affiliated unions, are members of the CHC.

… 

Careless Profits ends with the following recommendations for thoughtful and effective spending of healthcare dollars; transparency about where LTC funding goes; and a requirement for corporations involved in LTC to pay their fair share of taxes.

8.  From  May 20, 2021,Forward Together: Canada should crack down on tax evasion and put that revenue to good use (https://canadianlabour.ca/canada-should-crack-down-on-tax-evasion-and-put-that-revenue-to-good-use/): 

As this year’s tax filing season comes to a close and hard-working Canadians pay their fair share, it is only reasonable that we require the nation’s companies to do the same.

Hassan Yussuff is the president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow him on Twitter @Hassan_Yussuff

8. From Submission by the Canadian Labour Congress to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) Regarding 2019 Pre-Budget Consultations, August 2018 (https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrigIv4mkBnNwIAeJjrFAx.;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzYEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1733496825/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.ourcommons.ca%2fContent%2fCommittee%2f421%2fFINA%2fBrief%2fBR10006957%2fbr-external%2fCanadianLabourCongress-e.pdf/RK=2/RS=YGkUcOSvEBpZGlIZu02X.McXYcY-), page 6:  

Tax Fairness

The CLC recommends that the government eliminate regressive tax loopholes that almost exclusively benefit high-income earners. In conjunction, the government should initiate a comprehensive public review of tax expenditures and loopholes through which wealthy individuals and corporations succeed in avoiding their fair share of taxes.

9. From September 11, 2017 (   ): 

Canada’s unions welcome plans to start closing tax loophole

Canada’s unions are welcoming the federal government’s plan to close tax loopholes for very high-income earners, saying it’s an important first step toward bringing more fairness to Canada’s tax system.

“Today’s tax rules make it possible for someone earning $300,000 to save more on their taxes than the average Canadian worker makes in a year, and that is fundamentally unfair,” said CLC president Hassan Yussuff.

Current tax rules allow wealthy Canadians, especially self-employed professionals, many of whom are lawyers, doctors, dentists and accountants, to pay less in personal income taxes by setting up CCPCs – Canadian-controlled private corporations.

… 

“This kind of tax avoidance is costing the federal government as much as $500 million a year,” said Yussuff. “Taxes pay for the vital services that we all rely on, from physical security and food safety, to health care and education and disaster relief, and Canadians expect everyone to pay their fair share.”

Further reforms are needed

These measures are an important first step, said Yussuff, but he hopes more are in the works to make Canada’s tax system truly fair.

“We need to ensure that the top one percent and corporations pay their fair share too, which means a more aggressive clamp-down on tax havens and corporate tax dodging,” he said.

10. From January 29, 2014 ( https://canadianlabour.ca/news-news-archive-january-29-corporate-tax-freedom-day-clc-report-many-businesses-hoarding-cash-tax/): 

Yussuff adds, “It’s time to stop unproductive corporate tax cuts and demand that big business pay its fair share of taxes – and invest windfall profits in creating jobs and strengthening Canada’s economy.”

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.3 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada’s national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils.

Conclusion

The CLC uses the social-reformist or social-democratic phrase and cliche of “corporations paying their fair share of taxes.” Such a phrase implies that if corporations somehow pay their fair share of taxes, then they are legitimate and have a right to continue to exist. Since corporations exist only by exploiting and oppressing workers, however, such legitimation papers over such exploitation and oppression. The radical left should criticize such cliches and the organizations which express them.