Montreal sisters among Millionaires for Humanity calling for much higher taxes on wealthy to address COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst for more than 80 wealthy people to sign a letter calling on the super-rich to pay more taxes.

In an open letter, a group called Millionaires for Humanity urge governments to implement these hikes immediately, substantially, and permanently.

"As Covid-19 strikes the world, millionaires like us have a critical role to play in healing our world," the letter states. "No, we are not the ones caring for the sick in intensive care wards. We are not driving the ambulances that will bring the ill to hospitals. We are not restocking grocery store shelves or delivering food door to door.

"But we do have money, lots of it. Money that is desperately needed now and will continue to be needed in the years ahead, as our world recovers from this crisis."

There are three Canadian signatories: Barbara Clayton, Claire Trottier, and Sylvie Trottier. Most of the rest are Americans.

The Trottiers are directors of the Montreal-based Trottier Family Foundation and daughters of Lorne Trottier, cofounder of Matrox, which produces video card components and equipment for computers.

Their philanthropic gifts include funding the Trottier Observatory at Simon Fraser University.

Sylvie Trottier is a climate change analyst who once worked as coordinator of scientific content for the David Suzuki Foundation. Claire Trottier is an assistant professor in the department of microbiology and immunology at McGill University.

"The impact of this crisis will last for decades," their letter states. "It could push half a billion more people into poverty. Hundreds of millions of people will lose their jobs as businesses close, some permanently.

"Already, there are nearly a billion children out of school, many with no access to the resources they need to continue their learning. And of course the absence of hospital beds, protective masks, and ventilators is a painful, daily reminder of the inadequate investment made in public health systems across the world.

"The problems caused by, and revealed by, Covid-19 can’t be solved with charity, no matter how generous. Government leaders must take the responsibility for raising the funds we need and spending them fairly. We can ensure we adequately fund our health systems, schools, and security through a permanent tax increase on the wealthiest people on the planet, people like us."

The signatories state that they "owe a huge debt" to frontline workers, most of whom they say are "grossly underpaid for the burden they carry".

"At the vanguard of this fight are our health care workers, 70 percent of whom are women," they write. "They confront the deadly virus each day at work, while bearing the majority of responsibility for unpaid work at home.

"The risks these brave people willingly embrace every day in order to care for the rest of us requires us to establish a new, real commitment to each other and to what really matters."

They close their letter by stating that unlike tens of millions of people around the world, they don't have to worry about losing their jobs, homes, or ability to support their families.

"We are not fighting on the frontlines of this emergency and we are much less likely to be its victims," they note.

"So please. Tax us. Tax us. Tax us. It is the right choice. It is the only choice. Humanity is more important than our money."