Obviously, I think it's appalling that postdocs are paid such ridiculous salaries, especially in light of the scientific contribution they bring to society. However, I do not believe postdoc salaries should be tax exempt, as I believe any working citizen of any given society should pay for the services offered by this society (with few exceptions to this rule). Of course, this principle is based on the fact that salaries actually reflect the worker's contributions to this society, as well as their many years of experience, higher education, etc. This is obviously not the case for postdocs.
That being said, Canadian postdocs are still a bit spoiled compared to their American colleagues. First, by not paying income tax, they have zero out-of-pocket expenses for health care. Second, despite the slower Canadian economy resulting in slightly higher prices for certain goods and services, the global cost of living in Canada is much cheaper than that found in most areas of the US. Housing prices and municipal taxes are a good example of this fact. Third, with access to many social programs that are either non-existent or totally unaffordable in the US (e.g. childcare), Canadian postdocs still remain in a relatively comfortable situation economically.
The funny thing is that Canadian postdocs should already pay income tax on their salary (and should have been doing so for a while). The federal rule is (and has always been) that all income from scholarships, fellowships, bursaries and achievement prizes is tax exempt ***only when you are enrolled in a program of studies***. Now we all know that postdocs are never enrolled in a program of studies since they don't get a diploma at the end of their fellowships. Various Canadian universities may have given them a T2202 tax exemption form for many years, but my understanding is they were not legally obliged to do so. And that is probably what Harper's government is currently trying to stop.
As a Canadian "postdoc-ing" in the US, I never had such a privilege and I always had to pay US *and* Canadian taxes, despite receiving a fellowship from my home country. Sucks to be me!
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