Doctors are one profession which is somewhat portable if you speak English. Most of the others are not. I don't see our bus drivers fleeing somewhere else if we pay them less, much less our police and firefighters.
If people think they can make more money using their skills in a different country, why wouldn't they move? Perhaps not garbage collectors, as you say, but air traffic controllers? Doctors? Nurses? Teachers? Policemen? Scientists? If those kinds of professions are in demand in other areas of the world, and the pay rate is better, why wouldn't they move? You like the idea of immigrants from developing countries filling those positions in our society?
And I'm not suggesting we lower wages to the basement. But why should our teachers, police, firefighters, etc, be paid 20-30-40% more than their counterparts in all other western countries?
I seriously doubt your contention that the differences are anywhere near 40%; do you have anything to back up that figure?
But in any case, why shouldn't they be? Is it because you think you pay too much in taxes? All the people whose income you'd happily decrease also pay taxes. They buy a lot of stuff with their discretionary income. Public service employees number over three million in Canada. How do you suppose reducing the incomes of over three million Canadians would actually work out, in practice? Do you suppose fewer people buying fewer houses, cars and gee-gaws and paying even less in taxes is really a good idea? You already complain about people not paying enough in taxes, leaving a huge tax burden on people such as yourself, and so your solution is to add millions more to that number? Seriously?
The US is an anomaly in terms of the pay rate for doctors because they're not paid by government. Don't know about Australia but I'm sure ours make more than theirs do.
You'd be wrong. Australia, the Netherlands, the US and Belgium all pay their doctors more on average.
https://www.careeraddict.com/top-5-countries-with-the-highest-paid-salaries-for-doctors
Hardly. I'm suggesting its a problem when most of the middle class are public servants - paid by those who are not public servants and who earn quite a bit less with far fewer benefits.
Really? You think three million people make up the bulk of the middle class in a country of 36 million?
But aside from that, I thought everyone below middle class didn't pay enough taxes, or any, or something - so the government is supported almost entirely on the income level into which you (claim) you fall. But look, today you are all worried about the 'lower income earners'. Hahaha.
I never met anyone in my time with government who worked there for any other reason than that the pay and benefits were better than elsewhere, along with job security. Not saying there might not be some jobs along those lines, but in general, government jobs pay better than the private sector except in the higher levels.
Clearly, we talk to different people.
Anyway, you have nothing to complain about -- your (claimed) income group gained a full percentage point in after-tax income from 2006-2015, while everyone else lost ground. Your dream of shrinking the middle class is alive and well.
http://torontosun.com/2017/07/02/canadas-middle-class-shrinks--lets-talk-about-trudeaus-socks/wcm/62080b2f-1b79-49a2-9eda-559723306dd7