Fix the ceiling, raise the floor.

When we share what we have, we gain a country and neighbourhoods where we look after each other. It’s only fair that the richest among us, who benefit the most, do this as much as the rest of us.

This debate usually is framed around taxes. And we absolutely need a fair tax system in this country. But potential revenue also comes in the form of exemptions, deductions, deferrals, concessions, credits, and rebates. We can’t ignore this part of the issue.

Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page issued a report about tax expenditures a few months ago. He found very little oversight on this spending and no way of measuring whether it is having any success in changing the way Canadians act, as it is supposed to do.

About $152 billion gets redistributed currently. Much of that goes to incentives for corporations, deductions for the privileged, boutique credits for market segments, and loopholes for those with the best accountants.

These expenditures skew the system away from progressive taxation – meant to help redistribute wealth to the less advantaged – toward regressive taxation that only increases the growing gap between the rich and poor.

(And before the comment boards light up, yes, I pay income tax on the whole of my salary, as do other First Nations citizens working off-reserve.)

I don’t think an income tax increase is the right way to go for Canada. The personal debt crisis is a serious threat to our economy. Canadians need to get their affairs under control. To help, government needs to provide people with a predictable basis for their own personal planning.

Among other steps we can take, holding income tax rates steady will help accomplish that. The same is true for making the whole process simpler. We cannot expect people to manage their financial planning when they can’t understand the system or the tax form itself. I have a law degree and struggle with these forms.

But most importantly, we can reduce inequality by raising the minimum standard deduction for everyone to the level of a living wage.

That minimum deduction – called the “basic personal amount” on the form – is $10,527 this year. No one can live on that.

It represents about one-third of that $152 billion in current expenditures I want to look at. Let’s use this opportunity to raise the minimum and reduce the government’s intrusion into how Canadians spend their own money.

Under my approach, the minimum threshold before any individual pays taxes could be raised well above $20,000. Each Canadian could earn a moderate living before paying any tax. The system would never again drive a hard-working person into poverty.

This redistribution will not reduce the government’s fiscal framework at all, and may leave room for tackling the deficit or contributing to social programs. While doing so, we would shift expenditures that go disproportionately to the wealthiest Canadians and provide an equal benefit for everyone earning minimum wage or more.

Income inequality has been growing for almost 30 years. It will take a number of strategies to reverse. But if we are going to close the gap between the privileged few and the rest of us who pay for those privileges, we must share responsibility more equitably.

Raising the existing tax floor and eliminating benefits that go overwhelmingly to those at the ceiling is a good way to restore balance to the system – the balance between the benefits people take from society and their obligations in repayment for those benefits.

My proposal is both simple and fair, attributes that Canadians have always supported.