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TRURO – CUPE Nova Scotia is warning the McNeil government against any privatization of our public services - assets that are worth well over $5 billion.

In its submission to the Department of Finance and Treasury Board’s Budget Consultation 2015, the union says these valuable assets belong to the people of the province and are not for sale.

CUPE NS President Danny Cavanagh says, “Each and every Nova Scotian receives the equivalent of $17,000 a year in the form of public services provided by government.

“This includes everything from healthcare and education to clean water and safe clear roads to drive on. These services make an incredible contribution to people’s quality of life in our province.

“Sadly, in some households that amounts to almost another annual salary coming in,” says Cavanagh.

CUPE also argues in its submission that the tax changes proposed by the Broten report would make our tax system much more regressive, in other words – harder on working families and easier on the wealthy.

“Instead of cutting and privatizing public services, lots of money could be found at the ‘top end’ of our tax system. As one example, if they restored the large corporation tax to the 0.3 per cent rate it was before it was phased out from 2005-2012, they could generate at least $60 million annually and likely closer to $100 million a year.

“They could also close some tax loopholes, like taxing income from capital gains at the same rate as income from employment, which would generate an estimated $55 million annually,” says Cavanagh.

CUPE NS’s submission can be found here.