The HST or PST & GST and now they are talking about adding another .02 on the price of gas to pay for some more rapid transit. When does the taxation stop? We are now paying more in taxes than we have ever paid and we are getting less in services than we ever have, this does not compute. The teachers are now bargaining and are wanting more, next the health care workers will be bargaining and wanting more.
Our whole taxation system needs a desperate restructuring. We need to restructure our Income Tax, Property Tax, Sales Tax and all the government fees and licenses. The different levels of taxation is also in need of restructure, Municipal, Provincial and Federal. Without a restructure of our Taxation system there is no end in how much we will be paying in Taxes. We already pay half our income to some form of Taxation, it is not until June each year that we reach the point of paying our taxes. At this rate it will not be long until we will be paying taxes until August each year.
Most of the argument of the increase in Taxes is that we need to pay for all the government services that we demand of government. We continue to pay more but the education system is worse than it has been, the health system is also worse than it has been, we pay more but we do not see any improvements. It is time to understand that throwing more money (more taxes) at the government does not mean that we have better government or better services. Money is not the issue here.
In the old days the individual taxes were allocated to specific services - Gas Tax was dedicated to Transportation, road maintenance, bridges, new roads, etc. - Tobacco and Alcohol Taxes was dedicated to the Health system - Income Tax was to general revenue. Now everything goes to General Revenue and there is no accounting for any section of government. Every section of government has to fight for a share of the General Revenue if they need it or not. Whatever section of government is better at getting a bigger share of the pie, if they need it or not, robes another section that may need the funds more. This leads to some sections of the government being over funded and others under funded. The under funded yells about needing more tax dollars that is passed onto to us. This system does not work!
In order to begin to restructure our Taxation system we need to come to terms with what we demand of the Government and the services the government provides. The first thing to evaluate is the general 'universality' of the major government services. In order to explain what I mean by 'universality' of these services lets look at the government's pension services - CPP and Old Age Security plans.
Everyone who has worked in Canada has paid into the CPP funds, as it is a government retirement payment program that is universal to all individual's working in Canada. When the individual reaches 65 years old they can retire and collect a pension from CPP, this includes EVERYONE. This pension is not that much as it maxis to about $12,000 per year or just under. However, EVERYONE is entitled to this even if they do not need this income. Recently in the news there is a report of a top government corporation executive was given a pension of $300,000 per year. This I find to be high, but the real crime comes when the executive reaches 65 and starts to collect $312,000 per year. There is no reason for this executive to draw upon the funds of the CPP, to do so is pure GREED.
CPP was set up to create a minimum base for retirees, so individuals that reach the retire age can have a minimum to support their elder years. I am setting a arbitrary rate of $60,000 per year, anyone with a pension of $60,000 or more should not be entitled to the CPP plan, it is not needed. Most individuals in our society do not make enough income in their working life to create a pension plan, this is what CPP was created for. It is this that the plan should be used for.
This is just an example of what I mean of the 'universality' of the majority of the government services and the whole concept of 'universality' needs to be re-evaluated before we can start to restructure our Taxation system. We also need to re-define what we expect of Government and what is the responsibility of the individual. The question is - do we have the courage to do what is needed? Or are we going to continue on the path we are on until it completely fails (Greece and other countries that are close to bankruptcy).
