The Taxpayer Protection act came into law in 1999 under the previous Ontario Progressive Conservative government. Its broad provisions state that no new taxes can be imposed in Ontario unless they are approved in a public referendum. The act applies not only to taxes that the province directly imposes but to taxes levied by other bodies that are delegated taxing powers by the provincial government.
When Dalton McGuinty came into power in October 2003, he sang the praises of the act and pledged not to impose any new taxes without first holding the required referendum. It is understandable that McGuinty would be enthusiastic about the law that the evil Mike Harris introduced. after all, McGuinty was the guy who looked straight into the camera and, with a straight face told Ontarians that they wouldn’t pay one penny more in taxes under his government than they were currently paying.
During the 2003 election campaign we didn’t know then what we do now--that Dalton McGuinty has an extremely difficult time telling the truth. His government imposed a health tax that saw the residents of Ontario sending upwards of 90,000 more pennies to Queen’s Park than they did when the Tories were in power.
Unfazed by this apparent lie, McGuinty, again with a straight face told the unwashed masses that this wasn’t a tax--it was a health premium. Back in the olden days, when even Liberal governments more or less told the truth, Ontario did have a health premium. Under collective agreements that the province had with some of its employees, the government-employer was responsible for the payment of the premium. and no one bothered to take that section out when the previous premiums were abolished. Members of these unions shouted with glee at the realization that they wouldn’t have to pay thousands more pennies to the government.
Still undaunted, McGuinty again faced the cameras and said that this cash grab was not a premium--it was a tax. The workers were wrong to think that that the new health payment was actually a premium just because McGuinty found it convenient to call it that at the time that he was criticized for imposing a tax. The imposition of the health tax was nothing more than a clear breach of the Taxpayer Protection act.
In late November, the province passed an act called "The Respect for Municipalities act." at least it wasn’t called "The Respect for Taxpayers act". This act is a prelude to the City of Toronto act that the government intends to pass later this month. The Respect for Municipalities act respectfully states that the Taxpayer Protection act will not apply to the City of Toronto act. The latter act will allow the City of Toronto to impose new municipal taxes on such things as cigarettes, bar drinks and entertainment tickets. and needless to say, new taxes will be imposed.
The current Toronto City Council takes absolutely no responsibility for its spending. They refuse to cut spending in any meaningful way in order to balance the budget and claim that their shortfall is the fault of the other levels of government. They have no hesitation in increasing property and other taxes to overpay their unionized employees and throw money at social programs like programs for the homeless that have little or no effect. While they have compassion for the poor, the downtrodden, the homeless and everyone who isn’t white or a cop, they couldn’t care less about the ordinary taxpayers of the city. and yet Dalton McGuinty is going to give them taxing powers without the electorate having a say in it. While McGuinty can legally exempt this act from the Taxpayer Protection act, it runs against the spirit of the legislation.
McGuinty’s Liberal government has been in office for just over two years and the Taxpayer Protection act has been breached once and overriden on another occasion.
Despite his protestations to the contrary, McGuinty doesn’t like the Taxpayer Protection act; it cramps his tax and spend style of government. There is something perverse in watching a majority government wasting time trying to get around their own legislation that they could simply use their majority to repeal it.
The honourable thing for McGuinty and his government to do is to just repeal the Taxpayer Protection act and end the farce that it actually means something. But that will never happen. Repealing an act that McGuinty has no desire to ever follow would be too honest.