Presentation to the Ontario Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Finance Economic Affairs pre-budget hearings in Thunder Bay focuses on cost-shifting from the WSIB to provincial coffers and the financial impacts of the current workers’ compensation system.
Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups
127 Ravenwood Ave.
Thunder Bay, ON P7B 4H7
oniwgexec@gmail.com
www.injuredworkersonline.org
Presentation to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs as part of their Pre-Budget Consultations 2024
Submitted on behalf of the Research Action Committee of the Ontario Network of Injured Workers’ Groups (ONIWG), Steve Mantis, Committee Chair
January 31, 2024
Thank you for coming to Thunder Bay and holding one of your committee hearings in our area.
Our main messages today are:
- Cost shifting from WSIB to provincial coffers in areas such as health care, income support, community services, and retirement has significant impact on the provincial budget.
- Occupational Health and Workers Compensation have long term consequences for workers, their families, and our economy.
- Creating an equitable tax revenue stream will be the key to our long-term success as a province.
Recommendations
Recommendation #1 – To commission an independent study to determine the scale of cost shifting from the WSIB to publicly funded programs.
Recommendation #2 – Ensure that the WSIB compensates workers and their families for the actual losses they experience and stop the subsidizing WSIB with public dollars.
Recommendation #3 – Institute a public awareness campaign to encourage the reporting by workplace parties of all injuries or diseases that may be work related.
Recommendation #4 – Establish an independent agency to track long term outcomes for workers with permanent disabilities and their families.
Recommendation #5 – Create new top income tax brackets that apply to income levels over $1,000,000 that slowly reach than the 70 to 80 per cent tax range that was standard practice in the post-war years.
Recommendation #6 – Remove the corporate tax deductibility of pay packages over a million dollars. In that way, if a company wants to pay its CEO more than that, it wouldn’t receive a tax break on it.
Recommendation #7 – Introduce a wealth tax, starting with those with over $10 million.
Recommendation #8 – Increase the capital gains inclusion rate. Capital gains tax breaks are an important way to avoid paying their fair share. Income made when a stock is sold at a profit is called a capital gain, and only half of capital gains income counts as income for tax purposes. But a buck is a buck; whether you make it in the stock market or by working a minimum-wage job, both should count evenly as income.
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