Social - Unit 8: SOCIAL PROGRAMS & TAXATION

What are social programs?

services provided by government to reduce economic inequalities and promote the well-being of citizens

What are values?

Values are beliefs about what's important

What values in Canada affect our social programs?

What's considered important to citizens at one time may no longer be the case today, and vice versa.

Health insurance

an agreement by a company to pay for your health services, in exchange for a fee that you pay each month or each year

Private health care

health care paid for by individuals

Profit

money made from a product or service above and beyond the cost of providing the product or service

Public health care

health care paid for by taxes

What social programs do we provide in Canada and what legislation is involved?

- All citizens receive basic health care from a system paid for by taxes. The federal and provincial governments fund Canada's health care system.

- Canada Health Act (federal)

- At age 65, all citizens who have lived in Canada for at least 10 years automatically qualify for a monthly pension, paid for by taxes.

- Old Age Security Act (federal)

What social programs are provided in the United States and what legislation is involved?

- Citizens with low incomes receive health care paid for by taxes. All other citizens pay for health services or health insurance personally.

- Social Security Act (federal)

- Senior citizens generally support themselves through personal savings and pension plans.

- Social Security Act (federal).

What are the government responsibilities in Canada and the United States?

- The provincial government is better able to administer programs for its citizens at the local provincial level.

- The federal government can better deal with overall Canadian responsibilities

Look at chart on page 288 and understand why each party is placed where it is on the economic continuum

(see diff pic on textbook)

What is a political platform?

describes the official policies of a political party. It reflects a variety of issues, including those linked to social programs and taxation models.

What is the connection between values, policies and the economic continuum?

(see in textbook)

What are some examples of how political party economic policies connect to social programs?

policy 2007 - bloc quebecois

- Supports accessible health care for all citizens.

- Supports income assistance for senior citizens in financial need, beyond payments under the Old Age Security Act.

What is the connection between taxation and social programs?

- Government collects taxes to pay for the services it provides to citizens, such as social programs.

- In Canada, both the federal and provincial governments collect taxes. The federal government transfers some of the taxes it collects to the provinces. For social programs, these transfers include the Canada Health Transfer and the Canada Social Transfer.

- Individual Canadian citizens pay two kinds of tax to the federal government and to their provincial government: income tax and sales tax.

- Income tax is based on what you earn: the more money you earn, the more tax you pay.

- Sales taxes are based on what you spend on products and services: the more you spend, the more tax you pay. The federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a sales tax that everybody in Canada pays.

Goods and Services Tax (GST)

a federal sales tax in Canada

Income Tax

tax based on a percentage of a person's income

Median

a concept in statistics that means the middle number in a set of data organized in order of least to most

Sales Tax

tax paid at the time of buying a product or service, and based on a percentage of the price of the product or service

What do your taxes in Canada pay for?

Education, free health care, roads and highways, and other social benefits

What is the taxation model?

a policy of a political party or government about what to tax, how much to tax and how to spend taxes

How does economic decision making about taxes affect the quality of life of individuals?

- Through their tax dollars, Canadians receive programs and services that benefit everyone.

- The decisions about what to tax and how much determines the level of programs and services that can be offered.

- An individual's quality of life may be determined by the education he or she has attained as well as affordable housing a family has moved to—both provided by economic decision making about taxes.

How can tax evasion affect programs and services for everyone? How might this affect quality of life?

- When Canadians fail to pay taxes as required, less money is available to governments to support social programs as well as to assist other programs, such as Canadian filmmakers.

- In the flow chart, it's as if one of the three individuals was absent and not contributing to government funds. This affects quality of life by reducing funds available for programs and services.