"We're all moving to Alberta, get on the bus"; Buffett Rule Coming To Ontario

From the Toronto Star:

"We're all moving to Alberta," says Jason Safar, tax partner at Pricewaterhouse Coopers. "Get on the bus." Or, in a slight variation, get ready to move Dec. 31 — all to avoid a new Ontario surtax on incomes above $500,000.

While the Star admits no one "really expects a mass exodus of people fleeing the province's tax collectors," it concedes the "chance of 100 per cent voluntary participation in the new tax is just about zero."

The tax hike brings the combined federal/provincial tax rate in Ontario to nearly 50%, almost 10% higher than in Alberta, and the provincial government expects to collect $470 million (what's the over/under?) earmarked for debt reduction. Meanwhile, 200,000 people moved from Ontario to Alberta in the last decade, arguably helping both provinces' economies.

Read Reason's Shikha Dalmia on the Gandhi Rule over the Buffett Rule.