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Politically Incorrect

Pay the taxes!!!

by Arthur Weinreb

October 7, 2002

It is not very often that I disagree with Editor Judi McLeod on political on philosophical issues. It is even less often when I agree with something that a federal government agency does, especially when that body is Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA). What is truly amazing is that I am about to agree with CCRA while it is headed by Elinor Caplan. Caplan is the MP who went into her heavily Jewish riding in Thornhill during the last election campaign and implied that anyone who even considered supporting the Canadian Alliance was a racist, bigot and holocaust denier. Now, I’m used to being called a racist and a bigot by mentally challenged lefties like Caplan, who, unable to enunciate positions, resort to name-calling. But I draw the line at holocaust denier. Not only is Caplan a mediocre politician, but unlike other Liberals that I frequently criticize, the first and foremost being the littlest guy from Shawinigan, she leaves a lot to be desired as a human being. So this is going to be painful, but here goes.

Maureen Basnicki is a Toronto resident whose husband died in the World Trade Center on September 11. Shortly before the one year anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Ms. Basnicki received a letter from CCRA, addressed to her late husband, demanding payment of his 2001 income tax within 15 days or legal action would be taken. Ms. Basnicki, and judging from the media, a lot of others, feel that the survivors of Canadians killed on September 11 should get differential treatment and the government should forgo collecting income tax that the estates of the deceased owe. This stems from the fact that President Bush gave tax breaks to survivors of American victims of September 11.

It is amazing how some of the pundits who scream "sovereignty — sovereignty" at the thought of Canadians supporting any American position, suddenly think that the Canadian government should do something because the U.S. did it. No doubt the Canadian families are suffering as much as American families are. Even though our federal government reacted to the events of September 11 in a shamefully detached fashion, the fact remains that the United States was the target of these specific attacks. There are other things such as erecting a memorial to all the victims of the attacks on our way of life that should be done before tax relief is even considered. As a country we are an embarrassment to our neighbours to the south and forgiving taxes for 24 families is not going to fix that.

And Canadians being Canadians, any preferential treatment would lead to a slippery slope where relatives of anyone who dies under the age of 90 will doubtless come up with reasons why the government should allow them to avoid paying taxes.

Ms. Basnicki would not publicly reveal her financial situation which is, of course, her right. But we do know that her husband paid $400,000 of income tax in 2000, was building a vacation home up north, and was a director of a financial marketing for a software firm. It is not hard to imagine that Ms. Basnicki has liquidity problems but she and other 9/11 survivors are in no different position that the families of other persons who die suddenly. It is hard to believe that Ms. Basnicki would be in a different situation. had her husband been killed in a car accident or a plane crash.

If CCRA was to ignore reasonable payment requests while Basnicki’s estate is being wound up, that is a different matter. But there is no suggestion of this. When it comes to paying income tax, the families should be treated no differently than other taxpayers are.

Just pay the taxes.

Arthur Weinreb is a lawyer and author and Associate Editor of Canadafreepress.com, he can be reached at: aweinreb@interlog.com



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