Proposed Canada Guaranteed Sustainability Benefit

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What is it?

The Canada Guaranteed Sustainability Benefit (GSB) is not an official program, but a proposal by Joseph Vander Meer as a middle ground between Scenarios 1 and 3 of the Guaranteed Livable Basic Income, but also a combination of a savings plan to eliminate the national debt collectively. While providing a tax free savings that is unlike RRSPs, yet earning interest.

Who would it include?

The scaled approach of the program has never been costed or reported on. It would need a Distributional Cost Analysis, analyzing the population, income statistics, and it would depend on the regulations as well. Yet, based on previous costing reports, it could include up to 20 million homes.

Who would pay for it?

Partially, some of the current existing tax credits and tax based benefits that you receive like GST refunds wouldn't be needed and could pay for Billions of dollars of the funding needed. While you may dislike a program diverted like that, I like to point out that less processing by the government of different programs into one check is the point of the program to eliminate excessive costs associated with it. The program would be tax-free income, resulting in better gains for the public which provide more economic gain locally.

Formula

The proposed formula is to use different means-testing percentages based on income. By lowering the income-testing percentage when persons exceed a certain amount of income based on the Low Income Measure, it is also another measure taken to solidify the person's income based on CPI instead of generalized to a set income cap. Meaning, when GSB goes up because the poverty line did, the income cap for the next progression in lowering your clawback, will be to keep rising in your income. IE. Earning $35,000 one year, then needing to earn $37,500 the next year to keep the 25% instead of 50%.

How does this not help businesses instead? Well, if the business doesn't increase your wage, and you fall to the lower category, you have lost thousands of dollars are likely to quit your job, which means it costs the business to train another employee, so encouraging your income to climb will keep you there more often, resulting in less turnover, less product quality decline, less other costs that aren't wages.

The formula should be designed with the following factors in mind...

1. Guaranteed income of no less than 75% of the National Low Income Measure

   Using a national metric will encourage provincial governments to adjust provincial taxes and credits to keep population growth and fight local inflation

2. Broken into five (5) income-testing levels,

    a) $0 taxable income to no less than 100% of LIM-BT at 50% means-testing
    b) (2a) to no less than 200% of LIM-BT at 25% means-testing
    c) (2b) to no less than 300% of LIM-BT at 20% means-testing
    d) (2c) to no less than 400% of LIM-BT at 15% means-testing
    e) (2d) to no less than 500% of LIM-BT at 10% means-testing

IE. in 2020 the LIM-BT for an individual (Couple) was $30,356 ($42,930) this means the GSB would be:

Individual

    a) $0 to $30,356 - 50% means testing
    b) $30,356 to $60,712 - 25% means testing
    c) $60,712 to $91,068 - 20% means testing
    d) $90,068 to $121,424 - 15% means testing
    e) $121,424 to $151,780 - 10% means testing

Couple

    a) $0 to $42,930 - 50% means testing
    b) $42,930 to $85,860 - 25% means testing
    c) $85,860 to $128,790 - 20% means testing
    d) $128,790 to $171,720 - 15% means testing
    e) $171,720 to $214,650 - 10% means testing

The base benefit is calculated using 75% of Low Income Measure (After-Tax AT) using the LIM-AT of $26,570 ($37,576), resulting in $19,927 ($28,182).

    A person (couple) earning $100,000 a year would use a 15% (20%) means testing resulting in a net income benefit of $4,927 ($8,182)
    A person (couple) earning $45,000 a year would use a 25% (25%) means testing resulting in a net income benefit of $8,677 ($17,562)
    A person (couple) earning $20,000 a year would use a 50% (50%) means testing resulting in a net income benefit of $9,927 ($18,182)
    A person (couple) earning $0 a year would receive just the base amount and any qualifying associated benefits (ie. PwD)

For any individual on a individual basis that has a disability that prevents them from full-time employment or inhibits their ability to have any employment at all, shall receive $7,200 per year without means-testing to prevent any spouse or partner from inhibiting their ability to participate in the program due to income. This is in line with the Convention for People with Disabilities under the UN Charter of Rights.

This formula is designed to keep all 5 of these brackets currently inside the system over the years as long as the income doesn't keep respectively increasing at too much of a rate.

How would I benefit?

You would have a few options up front and based on those, you would benefit differently...

    a) collect the benefit on a Annual or Monthly Basis
    b) ask the government to Bank your GSB for a later tax-free withdrawl
    c) donate part or all of it to the national debt
    d) donate part or all of it to an Organization of choices
    e) to a spouse, or immediate-family member or guardianship (child)

Who supports this?

Be the first to sign your name here.