In his MP Report, Dan Albas has divvied up Canada into those who understand the true meaning of taxation, the good folks of Okanagan-Coquihalla, and the scoundrels in Ottawa (himself excluded) who want tax dollars merely to keep programs running and pay their staff.
Treating the good folks like idiots, he thinks we understand tax dollars as the pile of money we’d have for household expenses, savings or enjoyment if it wasn’t taken away from us. He dramatically underplays the amount of tax cuts the Conservatives have made since taking office as he simultaneously celebrates them. We’ve had $30 billion more to spend at the movies because of wise Conservative economic policy.
Turning to facts, cuts to personal income tax, corporate income tax and the GST have resulted in $332 billion less revenue since the government came to power. The government combined the drastic tax cuts with equally drastic cuts in spending. Health and education transfers, infrastructure, defence, veterans affairs, food safety, libraries, the environment, and scientific research are among the many areas of oversight that have been badly affected.
Had the government not demolished the programs Canadians know and love, the national debt surely would have increased more than the $160 billion it has since Harper took over.
Tax dollars, if collected, might also have been poured into economic stimulation and job creation. The government blows hard when it talks about jobs, but in fact only 32,000 permanent jobs were created last year, not even keeping up with population growth. Fewer people are employed today than before the financial crash. Our economic performance has slid to the 13th spot in G20 rankings.
Albas ends his report by honking his horn over the $2.2 billion we all get to keep due to the income-splitting plan called the Family Tax Cut. Should we line up for tickets to Barbados? Former Harper speech writer Michael Taube doesn’t think so. He explains, “when you really think about income splitting, it’s the equivalent of state-run socialism for the wealthy. A few of us will shift income to get a tax credit directly from the government, paid for by taxpayers? He adds that this criticism is “coming a from a right-wing conservative, folks. Think about that.”
Dianne Varga
Okanagan-Coquihalla
