Affordability & Housing
Tax measures and rebates
Green's promise
"Eliminate federal income taxes for low income Canadians and decrease the tax burden on Canadians earning $100,000 or less by raising the Basic Personal Amount to $40,000." — Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
Climate Change & the Environment
Green jobs
Green's promise
"Ensure clean economy subsidies serve workers and communities — not just corporate profits by requiring strong labour, environmental, and transparency conditions on all public funding." — Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
Oil and gas
Green's promise
"Eliminate all fossil fuel subsidies immediately, including tax write-offs for LNG, oil, gas, and coal projects. No public funds should support continued fossil fuel expansion." — Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
Pollution
Green's promise
"Support a global tax on pollution from aviation and shipping, ensuring major international polluters pay their fair share. Work with global partners, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to develop a fair and effective system." — Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
Culture, Arts, & Media
News and journalism
Green's promise
Jobs, Businesses, & Labour
Oil and gas
Green's promise
"Eliminate all fossil fuel subsidies immediately, including tax write-offs for LNG, oil, gas, and coal projects. No public funds should support continued fossil fuel expansion." — Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
Minority Rights, Fair Government, & Democracy
Tax fairness
Green's promises
"Increase the corporate tax rate from 14% to 21% for businesses with profits over $100 million ($44 billion in revenue)." — Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
"Introduce a permanent Windfall Tax (Excess Profit Tax) on large corporations, including banks, grocery chains and fossil fuel companies, to prevent profiteering at the expense of Canadians. This tax will apply at a rate of 15% on profits exceeding 120% of a company’s average profits over the previous four years, ensuring that large corporations contribute fairly when they generate excessive gains." — Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
"Implement a 0.35% Financial Transactions Tax (Tobin Tax) on trades involving stocks, bonds, derivatives, and currencies. This measure will help curb speculative trading practices that destabilize markets and generate significant revenue for social, economic, and environmental programs."
"Implement a progressive wealth tax on net wealth above $10 million. The tax would apply at a rate of 1% on net wealth over $10 million, 2% on net wealth over $50 million, and 3% on net wealth over $100 million. This policy would impact only .5% of Canadian households." — Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
"Strengthen Canada’s exit tax to prevent the ultra-wealthy from avoiding taxes by moving assets abroad. We will apply a net wealth-based exit tax of 35% on assets over $10 million for individuals renouncing Canadian tax residency, ensuring those who have benefited the most from Canada’s economy must contribute significantly before leaving. Loopholes that allow tax avoidance through corporate structures and exempt assets will also be closed." — Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
"Ensure fair taxation of extreme capital gains by applying a progressive tax only to profits over $10 million. To prevent wealthy investors from avoiding taxes indefinitely, we will also limit the ability to deduct past investment losses to a maximum of 10 years." — Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
"Revise Canada’s Select Luxury Items Tax Act to eliminate the “lesser of” rule and apply a flat luxury tax rate (e.g., 10% or higher on the full purchase price).
» Increase the tax rates for extreme wealth purchases (e.g., higher rates for private jets and superyachts.)
» Close corporate loopholes that allow businesses to buy these assets to avoid the Select Luxury Items Tax.
» Exempt Canadian-made commercial and recreational vessels from the Select Luxury Items Tax, to support small manufacturers and coastal industries."
— Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
"Close stock options and capital gains tax loopholes, which primarily benefit wealthy executives." — Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
"End off shore tax evasion by taxing hidden funds and requiring proof of foreign business operations." — Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
"Review and phase out corporate subsidies that fail to deliver proven economic, environmental, or social benefits, with priority given to eliminating subsidies that:
» Distort markets without improving public well-being.
» Contribute to corporate concentration of key industries.
» Benefit large corporations disproportionately over small businesses and workers.
» Are provided to corporations with majority foreign ownership, particularly U.S.-based firms, undermining Canadian economic sovereignty.
» Fail to pass a cost-benefit analysis."
— Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
"Increase transparency on business subsidies by mandating full public reporting on corporate tax benefits, grants, and loans — including which corporations receive them and their economic impact." — Change: Vote For It, retrieved 2025-04-25
Biography
I first moved to Victoria after graduating from high school on Salt Spring Island in order to attend UVic. My spouse Jane and I met in my first week at UVic, and now live in downtown Victoria. I finished degrees in Political Science and Law (BA, LLB) at UVic as well as other degrees (MA, MJur, PhD) elsewhere. In my career, about half of my time was spent practising environmental law and fighting against climate change on behalf of public interest organizations (Sierra Club, Ecojustice, the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre) and the other half in the public service (federal Department of Justice and Attorney General of British Columbia). I have taught Law at post-secondary institutions and had books on law published. My voluntary work has included serving on the boards of environmental organizations and karate associations. Currently, I am President of JKA SKD Canada, the largest Canadian branch of the Japan Karate Association, and am ranked 6th dan.
Reason for running
For me, protecting the existence and quality of life on Earth is a priority that outweighs everything else. Every political issue, no matter how important, is secondary to that. If our human civilization doesn’t survive – if our species doesn’t survive – then we will never have the opportunity to resolve all of our other issues, or achieve all of our other goals. Eliminating inequality? There will be no inequality if we’re all equally dead. Eradicating poverty? Wealth and poverty would be equally meaningless concepts on a dead world. Achieving world peace? Surely the peace we seek isn’t the peace of the graveyard.
Maybe those seem like the sort of bland, “motherhood” statements that wouldn’t distinguish me from other political candidates. Maybe protecting life and civilization seems like the sort of thing that no one disagrees with. When you look at what politicians actually do once they’re in office, though, you can see that’s not true.
Yes, I have views about the full range of issues facing us right now, from Trump and tariffs to urban decay, and I'm happy to talk about them. But as to why I'm running for office, really it's to help ensure that human civilization and life on this planet can continue into the future.
michaeldoherty.ca www.michaeldoherty.ca