by Klaus Rohrich
February 23, 2004
at one of the televised leadership debates during the last federal election, Jean Chrétien made the statement that the job of the Federal Government was "…the redistribution of wealth". and all this time you thought it was to provide national security, a national currency, a national transportation infrastructure, laws that govern our conduct, and universal healthcare. The statement in itself was not nearly so shocking as the fact that neither the media nor any of Chrétien’s opponents challenged him over it. This could be one of the reasons the ruling parties of Canada appear to be so cavalier about squandering the taxpayers’ money.
It’s kind of like the goose that lays the golden egg; the minute the cash runs out, they go back to the source and just help themselves to some more. I fear that the culture of wastefulness and squandering has become so pervasive in Canada and so accepted by the electorate, that we may never be able to turn it around. Yet it is causing us irreparable damage as a nation and as a functioning economy.
Recently Elizabeth Nickson, the incisive neo-con columnist for the National Post, wrote a piece about the failure of Duthie’s Books, a family-owned chain of bookstores in Vancouver. She ascribed the bankruptcy "in no small part" to the fact that Chapters set up a superstore in direct competition. Celia Duthie then set up a business making and selling beautifully handcrafted bookcases from native wood in hopes of selling them locally. She sold very few locally, but is doing well selling them to americans who are buying them in great numbers.
The gist of her piece was that many family businesses in Canada are failing because most Canadians can’t afford to buy things from anyone but the large discount superstores like Ikea or The Home Depot. The reason we can’t afford to patronize our neighbours’ retail establishments is that we’re paying too much in taxes to leave us any discretionary spending capability.
at a tax burden of 47 per cent for the average Canadian family, that’s pretty well double what they spend on housing. When one adds in food, clothing and other necessities, it becomes clear why so many small retailers are going under.
But let’s not dwell on the retailers for a moment. Let’s look at the net effect on families. With an average 47 per cent tax burden, it’s a cinch that most families in Canada need at least two incomes to meet all their expenses. and unlike the "redistributors of wealth", families don’t have a well to return to when they run out of money. They turn to the credit card, which accounts for a whole new range of problems.
This could be one of the reasons there is such a vibrant underground economy. In many retail establishments and particularly among trades people, there are two prices for everything. One is with and one is without tax. The price with tax is payable any way. The other, lower price is payable in cash only.
as modern enlightened Canadians, we tend to slag the 50s with their simplistic attitudes and patriarchal social structure. However, during the 50s the divorce rate wasn’t at 50 per cent and most kids had a mom to come home to after school. While incomes seemed ridiculously low, most families were able to live reasonably well on just one salary.
I know, I know… I’m sounding like I’m pining for the good old days and I want to assure you that I am not. What I am doing is pointing out where we seem to have arrived from where we began. We have been seduced by the idea that Big Government can solve all our problems. The Nanny State will look after us from cradle to grave and take care of all our needs.
But, as most people know (and all people should know) is that everything comes with a price. The question is whether or not the price is worth it. From the outrage and disgust that has been expressed over the Liberal government’s proclivity for making tax dollars disappear down the bottomless pit over the past few weeks, one would surmise that the price of the Nanny State has become prohibitive.
We have become seduced by the doctrine that the rich should pay. We hear a lot about "paying one’s fair share" when it comes to taxation. The problem is that the concept of "rich" has become fairly fluid and the threshold for "richness" appears to be dropping precipitously. What you may not know is that about 85 per cent of all income tax collected is paid by about 15 per cent of taxpayers. average middle class people who are not rich and paying some 47 per cent of their total income in taxes should understand that their contributions amount to only about 15 per cent of all income taxes collected! That might give you some idea about how out of control government spending has become in the western world in general and in Canada in particular.
It’s easy to lay the blame on individual politicians. We can hate Paul Martin or Jean Chrétien and their cronies, but that will not change a thing. What we must not forget is that they attained their positions of absolute power through our consent.
Yes, I know there are precious few people who admit to voting Liberal and a whole lot of people who do not vote at all in protest of the poor quality of people running for office. However, if you do not vote, then don’t be outraged about getting ripped off by crooked politicians. after all, it was through your lack of commitment that enabled them to do so.