Don’t pay tax? Don’t vote, says Shopify CEO
2026/07/29 1 Comment
Yet another tech bro with anti-democratic tendencies:
Canadians who don’t pay income tax and pensioners shouldn’t have the right to vote, according to the CEO and co-founder of e-commerce company Shopify.
In a post on X, Tobias Lutke endorsed a plan that would strip millions of Canadians of the right to vote. A post by a retired banker suggested proportional voting based on the level of income tax paid.
“What about weighted voting proportional to the level of income tax you pay? (no income tax paid – 0 vote, $1-100k – 1 vote, $100-200k 2 votes and so on… cap it at 5 votes for $500k+. For those that constantly complain about the wealthy not paying tax/fair share they’d have nothing to worry about right? Why not reward representation of taxation and build a democracy around those that foot the bill?” wrote Eric Thor.
To which Lutke replied, “Good system,” adding in another post, “Reward productive people with leverage.”…
About Andrew
Multicultural Meanderings 
Canada had a system a little like this in the 19th century. Only people owning $500 in real property could be named to the Senate. But the House of Commons never had such restrictions, either for membership or voting.