The COVID-19 pandemic

[jeffster]

But I do think it creates a dangerous precedent — we’d be that much closer to creating a healthcare system that might surcharge obese people, alcoholics, smokers, etc., that clog up the system

Don't we already do that? I thought that was one of the main justifications for the sin taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, etc.

And again, this is going to effect the poor more than the rich

They seem to be planning to administer it through the income tax system, which would make it pretty easy to scale based on income.

So called SIN tax I don't think comes close to covering the costs if one winds up in the hospital with lung cancer or needing a new liver. As for poor eating habits, there is no SIN tax on junk foods or pop, or over consumption. Perhaps that will change, but for now, it's a free quadruple bypass that hopefully you'd never need.

As for administering it through income tax, not sure how that would work if someone has zero income, especially true of someone living on the reserve as they pay no income tax, federally or provincially.

Though I have no idea how their healthcare coverage is, as they have a different system than provincial healthcare (if living on reserve land).