When City of Toronto budget chief Shelley Carroll contemplated imposing a city sales tax, it was clear proof that even the mentally retarded can get an important position in politics. But then, being in touch with reality has never counted for much in the machinations of the Great Socialist Workers’ Paradise known as Toronto.
Carroll, who is contemplating running for mayor in the 2010 municipal elections, feels that the spending addiction the city’s politicians are suffering can easily be sustained just by adding another layer of taxes. It would never occur to the likes of Carroll and her socialist toadies that during a worldwide recession it may be good policy to cut back on spending; you know, the same way that the average family has to cut back on spending when reaching the upper limits of their income.
Instead, Carroll, who spawned this year’s $8.7 billion monstrosity of a budget, has made arrangements for the city to hire 1,040 new employees and has increased spending over last year by a whopping 17.4% (which works out to roughly nine times the rate of inflation). But, hey, what are a few hundred million between friends?
She has called for an “honest dialogue” to permanently fix the city’s ongoing fiscal difficulties, suggesting that a city tax would solve all of Toronto’s problems. The one word that has not passed her lips and is apt to cause a severe phobic reaction is “cutbacks”.
Instead fees and taxes just keep rising in a city that’s beginning to look and feel more Third world than world-class. Consider that the city is set to impose a whole plethora of new user fees including $50 to set up a new tax account, a $2.00 fee for paying parking tickets on line and $35 for switching ownership of a utility account. Imagine the chutzpah of having to pay money for the privilege of paying property tax, or paying a ticket! In addition the city has already imposed a whole new layer of fees and taxes that include its own land-transfer tax, its own vehicle registration tax and a fee for having a pet in one’s home.
I don’t suppose that Ms Carroll, who could be Canada’s answer to Nancy Pelosi, reads the newspapers, given that the Province of Ontario is proposing to “harmonize” its sales tax with the GST on July 1st of next year. This will represent yet another tax increase for the people of Ontario as many items previously exempt from the provincial sales tax will now be taxable. If she were aware of the proposed introduction of the Harmonized Sales Tax, surely she wouldn’t be so uncaring about taxpayers’ ability to make ends meet.
What’s more, a city sales tax will kill retail jobs in Toronto so fast it will make her head spin, as many Torontonians will change their shopping patterns to avoid the city tax. Places like Yorkdale and Scarborough Town Centre will become ghost malls, while Mississauga’s Square one and other surrounding malls will gain lots of new customers.
Hence the only conclusion that one can reliably draw from the budget chief’s call for a city sales tax is that she is unbalanced, out of touch with reality, brain damaged or just plain dumb. I hope Ms. Carroll decides to run for mayor and that the central platform for her campaign will be the promise of a city sales tax. That will kill two birds with one stone; she surely isn’t going to win the mayoral race and she’ll no longer be on council.
Klaus Rohrich is senior columnist for Canada Free Press. Klaus also writes topical articles for numerous magazines. He has a regular column on RetirementHomes and is currently working on his first book dealing with the toxicity of liberalism. His work has been featured on the Drudge Report, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, among others. He lives and works in a small town outside of Toronto.
