• Rationale:

• • • Edmonton’s cost of living exceeds Alberta’s $15/hour minimum wage.

    • Raising the minimum wage would stimulate the economy, reduce poverty, and reduce reliance on social services.

    • Servers making minimum wage (of whom, Ronald was one several times in his life) deserve 100 percent of the tips they earn, without exception.

  • City Options:

    • Lobby the provincial government for increases, and tip exemptions.

    • Pass a “Fair Wage” policy for city contractors.

    • Explore a Living Wage Certification Program for local employers.

• Equal Treatment for All Workers:
  Challenge the current taxation of tips as income on the basis of equality, advocating for a distinction between wages and voluntary gratuities. Workers in the service industry who rely on tips should not be unfairly burdened with taxation on funds that are not guaranteed earnings but rather a direct result of customer discretion.

• Economic Justice for Service Workers:
  Argue that taxing tips undermines economic fairness, disproportionately affecting lower-income workers who rely on tips to supplement their often minimum-wage salaries. Taxing tips as income exacerbates income inequality and fails to recognize tips as a form of customer appreciation, not a structured, employer-defined income.

• Challenge Federal and Provincial Involvement:
  Assert that both federal and provincial governments are overstepping their regulatory boundaries by imposing income tax on tips. While tips are part of earnings, they should be classified differently — as voluntary payments by customers that should remain untaxed, or taxed at a much lower, preferential rate.

• Cultural Shift: Tips Are Gifts, Not Wages:
  Build an argument that tips are not a salary but rather a gift or voluntary transfer from the customer, and as such, should not be taxed under the same framework as wages. By constitutional law, the right to receive and keep voluntary gifts without government interference could be argued as a Charter-protected right under sections protecting personal property and economic freedom.

• Redistribution of Wealth:
  Challenge that the taxation of tips by the CRA disproportionately harms lower-income workers, mainly women, racial minorities, and young people, who are often the primary recipients of tips. By exempting tips, we can reduce government involvement in personal financial matters and promote a fairer distribution of wealth within the economy, especially in high-tip sectors like hospitality.

• Fundamental Right to Economic Freedom:
  Emphasize that taxation of tips infringes on economic freedom, and propose a constitutional right to income earned outside of a traditional wage system. This could fall under sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that guarantee freedom of commerce and the protection of individual economic liberties.

• Immediate Economic Relief:
  Argue that exempting tips from income tax will immediately boost the income of service workers, reducing the strain on social welfare programs and improving workers’ financial independence. It’s a necessary step in modernizing Canada’s tax code to address the reality of tipping-based industries.

• Call for a New Economic Policy:
  As a bold reform, push for the implementation of a separate tax category for voluntary gratuities, ensuring they are not taxed as regular income, thus fostering a more sustainable, incentive-driven economy. This policy shift could include:

  • Zero taxation on all tips received under a certain threshold.

  • Reduced tax rates for tips above the threshold to reflect the voluntary nature of these payments.

  • Clear legislation preventing tips from being included as income for the purpose of calculating taxes, social program contributions, or pension plans.

Platform Talking Points for this Constitutional Challenge:

• “Service workers earn tips through personal effort and customer goodwill, not employer mandates. It’s time for Canada to recognize the distinction between wages and voluntary gratuities — and exempt tips from income taxation.”

• “By challenging the taxation of tips, we ensure that hardworking service industry professionals get to keep more of what they earn, and help correct the imbalances in how the tax system treats different income sources.”

• “This isn’t just a tax policy issue — it’s about fairness, dignity, and respecting workers’ rights to receive the full benefit of their labor without overbearing government taxation.”