The ministry’s statement comes after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sharply criticized the world’s energy companies for making profits at the expense of the poor. On WednesdayGuterres said the world’s leading energy companies earned $100 billion in the first quarter of this year and that those profits should be taxed and then used to support the most vulnerable people in difficult times. He joined others who have recently accused oil companies of capitalizing on a global supply shortage to fatten profits and cheat consumers. People attend the World Energy Expo trade show in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, June 7, 2022. (The Canadian Press) “This insane greed is punishing the poorest and most vulnerable people while destroying our only common home, the planet,” Guterres said. “We are seeing outrageous profits by the oil and gas industry at a time when we are all losing money.” WATCHES | UN chief urges tax on oil companies’ ‘excess profits’
UN chief urges tax on oil companies’ ‘excess profits’
Governments should tax the “insane greed” of global oil and gas companies and use the money to help vulnerable people in this difficult time, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. The day after Guterres’ comments — in which no company was singled out — Suncor Energy Inc. reported earnings of $3.99 billion in the second quarter of 2022, more than four and a half times the $868 million it earned in the same period in 2021. Asked if Ottawa considered a higher tax on such profits, the Treasury instead pointed to other tax measures taken by the federal government, including a permanent 1.5 percent increase in the corporate tax rate on profitable banks and the imposition of a luxury tax on private jets and luxury cars worth over $100,000. “We have been and remain committed to ensuring that everyone pays their fair share of tax,” the ministry said in an emailed statement on Friday.
The NDP says the extra revenue should go to ordinary Canadians
Daniel Blaikie, the New Democrats’ finance critic, said there was “absolutely” a place for the federal government to tax “excess profits” at a time when “people are really under the gun when it comes to being able to afford it.” rent, food. and gas. “We’ve seen the Conservatives in the UK do this, for Pete’s sake,” Blaikie said, referring to Britain’s passage last month windfall tax of 25 percent on North Sea oil and gas producers;. Blaikie suggested the profits could be diverted to increase the GST tax credit and the Canada Child Benefit. The money could also be used to extend a 2021 increase in Old Age Security payments for seniors aged 64-75, which currently only applies to people over 75, he added. Daniel Blaikie, the New Democrats’ economic critic, said there was “absolutely” a place for the federal government to tax the “excess profit” of energy companies. (David Kawai/The Canadian Press) Kevin Page, a former parliamentary budget officer, agreed that taxed profits could “go to work in terms of strengthening our social safety net”. In response, energy companies may argue that the increased taxes are an unfair burden on an industry still trying to recover from the global collapse in energy prices during the early stages of the pandemic, Page said. “These are the tough trade-offs we want our political leaders to wrap their heads around,” Page said.
The industry says Ottawa is benefiting from increased royalties
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) declined an interview but said in an emailed statement that higher commodity prices translate into a rise in federal royalties. “Canada is set to see a 283 percent annual increase in royalties collected from the four oil and gas producing provinces,” the association said in its statement, which also cited income taxes, municipal taxes and corporate taxes. remittances and the auctioning of mineral rights as additional pools of government money derived from the oil and gas sector. Increased production from democratic countries such as Canada would help reduce consumer costs, CAPP added.