Activity 1 page 3
Completion requirements
Unit 5: Section 1: Workbook 17: Working Together
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To support social programs, both the Canadian and United States governments must have the funds. These funds are collected through taxes placed on economic activity. This is called the tax base. Most federal taxes are
collected in the form of income tax, corporate tax, and sales tax.
For example, the national GST (Goods and Services Tax) in Canada was 5% at the time this resource was written.
Alberta is the only province in Canada that does not have a provincial sales tax (PST) that consumers pay in addition to the national GST.
tax base: economic activity that the government taxes to pay for services and programs
income tax: tax collected by government from all employed individuals; based on a percentage of personal income
corporate tax: tax collected by government from businesses; based on a percentage of earnings from the sale of products and services
sales tax: tax paid when a product or service is received; based on a percentage defined by the federal and most provincial governments
Vocabulary
Retrieve your Issues for Canadians Definitions handout from your Activities folder.
Add the terms and definitions for tax base, income tax, corporate tax, and sales tax. As you continue your investigation, you may add to these definitions.
Save your updated handout to your Activities folder.
Going Beyond
Internet Web Search
Complete research on Tommy Douglas, who is often called "the Father of Medicare" in Canada. In 2004, he was nominated for the title of Canada's Greatest Canadian on a CBC nationwide contest. Focus on how Tommy Douglas succeeded in introducing Medicare to Canada.
For example, the national GST (Goods and Services Tax) in Canada was 5% at the time this resource was written.
Alberta is the only province in Canada that does not have a provincial sales tax (PST) that consumers pay in addition to the national GST.
tax base: economic activity that the government taxes to pay for services and programs
income tax: tax collected by government from all employed individuals; based on a percentage of personal income
corporate tax: tax collected by government from businesses; based on a percentage of earnings from the sale of products and services
sales tax: tax paid when a product or service is received; based on a percentage defined by the federal and most provincial governments
Vocabulary
Retrieve your Issues for Canadians Definitions handout from your Activities folder.
Add the terms and definitions for tax base, income tax, corporate tax, and sales tax. As you continue your investigation, you may add to these definitions.
Save your updated handout to your Activities folder.
Going Beyond
Internet Web Search
Complete research on Tommy Douglas, who is often called "the Father of Medicare" in Canada. In 2004, he was nominated for the title of Canada's Greatest Canadian on a CBC nationwide contest. Focus on how Tommy Douglas succeeded in introducing Medicare to Canada.
Workbook Summary
In this workbook, you investigated the following question.
How do social programs differ in Canada and the United States?Both the Canadian and the United States governments support social programs. However, because of the differing values of each of these nations and their governments, their social programs are not the same.
Generally, Canada values the achieving of public good through the support of all citizens while the United States believes that the public good is achieved through the strength of its individuals. Therefore, Canada has more social programs than the United States. To support a higher number of these social programs, Canadians pay more in taxes than Americans.
In the next workbook, you will explore how the underground economy impacts federal and provincial taxes. You will be introduced to the concepts of tax evasion and the black market. Taxation involves important economic decision-making by government. Your quality of life is influenced directly by federal and provincial taxes. Taxes help to pay for social programs. In the next workbook, you will also see how taxation affects your quality of life.
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