Tax revolt may be only thing government will understand
Posted Jul 29, 2010 By Jeff Maguire
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Tweet ThisEMC Editorial - I am not normally a crusader or campaigner. But this week I am writing to urge EMC readers to help continue the revolt against the latest tax increases imposed by the provincial government. Grit fingers are sliding deeper and deeper into our pockets!
Last week, just when public complaints about the double tax whammy leveled July 1 were really starting to heat up, Premier Dalton McGuinty and company did what, on the surface, looked like an about face. At least with reference to so-called "eco fees" which quickly had Ontarians seeing red!
Eco fees, which the government says are aimed at improving our environment and creating jobs (they claim every tax will improve employment), were deftly slipped in at the same time the dreaded HST (harmonized sales tax) arrived.
But as many in the media had predicted, the announcement about the "suspension" of eco fees isn't the end of the situation.
Instead of scrapping eco fees, another big blow to our collective pocketbooks, the Liberals have put a 90-day moratorium in place while they "study the matter."
Clearly they're looking for a better way to run this latest "program". Something easier to manage than the complete fiasco the government turned loose July 1. No one, including them, could figure out what the fees were. Therefore consumers were being charged varying amounts by different businesses and evidently many people were overcharged.
The issue came to a head when Canadian Tire Corporation, one of the biggest sellers of environmental products, announced they would no longer charge eco fees. At least not until the government cleaned up the mess they created by allowing the so-called "Stewardship Committee" to introduce such a convoluted program.
Let's get one thing straight here though. The Liberals and the committee can call it what they like. Eco fees are just another tax - pure and simple. And citizens are growing increasingly angry about having their pockets picked by government at all levels.
Many of us, including me, are already skeptical about the "success" of existing recycling programs. So, why would we trust that this confusing but comprehensive extension of the stewardship initiative is likely to A.) Help keep our landfills free of hazardous materials. B.) Improve the quality of our lakes and rivers or C.) Create more employment.
Polls done in the wake of the eco fee fiasco show the majority of us think the money will go straight into government coffers with no positive upside for the environment. If so, why is this program being reconsidered?
It's high time Ontarians and Canadians in general stood up on their hind legs and said "No More Tax Increases!"
Let the government do the cutting - from within. The McGuinty Liberals continue to add to the civil service and nurture the bureaucracy every passing day. It is time to put a lid on it! Government is the biggest growth industry in the country and I for one am fed up with bureaucracy.
The eco tax, in whatever form it is re-introduced, will result in another whole layer of government. Based on past experience, federally and provincially, it often costs as much or more to run the bureaucracy created than the program actually brings in. Ridiculous!
FED UP
I see positive signs though. The natives are restless!
Every time there is a tax increase there is a certain level of negative feedback for whatever level of government happens to behind the latest money grab. People are fed up.
Let's face it, tax increases are a constant issue and with the introduction of the much maligned HST, the situation has reached a new level. The grumbling that preceded this new tax has risen in crescendo as people calculate just how much this is going to impact their lives. The hit we are all taking as a result of this is considerable.
Stewardship Ontario's idea of adding an additional tax (it isn't a fee) to thousands of other products should have been rejected outright by the provincial Grits. Instead they turned it loose on unsuspecting citizens and businesses without a workable structure in place. How typical of this government!
And what about the opposition parties? Where were the Tories and the New Democrats when the eco tax proposal was making its way through the halls of government?
Let's face it, whether the subject made it to the floor of the Legislature or not, a program like this leaves a wide trail. Did the opposition parties not have anyone astute enough to spot it? Or are they just too complacent to care?
Not exactly a shining example of government in action!
As for business they haven't covered themselves in glory either.
In recent days we have heard countless examples of how individual firms told customers they were forced to charge the new eco tax, along with the HST. But instead of sticking to the guidelines some firms chose to round price up to the nearest (highest) number.
I guess some folks decided they would cash in too.
I've received many complaints. One lady, an EMC reader, told me her weekly hair styling suddenly jumped from $24 to $28.
When she asked how the new taxes added an even $4 to the equation, a salon employee admitted they had rounded off the figure "just to make it easier."
Easier for who? Try better for them!
As for Ontarians and Canadians in general, we are seeing our personal "cost of living index" climb every day. It seems well out of synch with what is happening in the marketplace. The only thing that isn't increasing is our pay cheques.
And now the Ontario government is heaping more financial misery on us.
Where will it end?
The HST, GST, PST. How many more ST's are we going to be faced with in this province and this country?
It's all pretty sickening actually and public dissatisfaction is rising. There were organized and spontaneous protests all across the province once residents realized that not only were they paying the HST but that a new "eco tax" was also being added to a seemingly endless list of goods and services.
TOO FAR
There's a moratorium on the eco tax now of course. The government will consult with Stewardship Ontario (a non-profit, federally-regulated organization) to find a "better" way to administer the program. If that fails watch the Liberals roll it into our regular taxes long-term. The government will get their pound of flesh - they always do!
The cumulative effect of all of this is dramatic and people are upset, big time! Perhaps McGuinty and company have gone too far? Only time will tell.
Certainly our ever smiling premier (doesn't bother him, he has a big salary and a fat pension waiting) was about as popular as a skunk at a picnic in his own riding on Saturday, July 17.
A crowd estimated at 300 braved scorching temperatures and high humidity to rally outside McGuinty's Ottawa riding office to protest the eco tax.
Protest organizers rented a wooden coffin, complete with a corpse (a dummy obviously) which was carried by the throng. The coffin bore a sign which read, "RIP taxpayers of Ontario!" For further effect the dummy was propped up on the lawn of the premier's office.
"We're mad as hell. We're being taxed to death. That's why we have the coffin," obviously angry protest leader Shirley Mosley told the media.
"We can't take any more," she intoned.
Some of those on hand argued the eco tax "is illegal" and suggested McGuinty should step down immediately.
I would applaud the latter. The former is a mute point, because big government in this country basically does whatever it wants.
Certainly the protesters are on the right track. But McGuinty and company are counting on the usual Canadian tendency which has been to complain privately, but not publicly.
I am seeing changes in that trend however and certainly the Grits were forced to react to the massive public protests over the eco tax. We'll see how this particular chapter ends in a couple of months?
That is what it is going to take folks. Constant complaining and public protests. Bombard the politicians with e-mails and phone calls. It is the only thing government understands. If they think they'll be given the boot in the next election they'll listen. Count on it! But we have to speak up - loudly.
The Ontario Liberals are confident they'll win the next provincial election. So much so that they felt safe delivering a double tax whammy July 1. The next provincial vote is in the fall of 2011.
Obviously some are finding "advantages" in the eco tax. Someone always does, right! And certainly government will benefit - massively. Licence to hire more and more civil servants just as McGuinty and the Liberals has been doing unchecked for years now.
Certainly the feds won't complain either. They've no doubt got more and "better" taxes up their sleeves too.
And what will happen municipally after we elect politicians to another four-year term this October? It won't be pretty I'll bet!
Mind you if Ontarians thought more tax dollars might improve our stumbling health care system by improving access to certain tests, operations, procedures etc. we might not complain so much about these latest gambits.
Don't count on it folks, it isn't going to happen! Remember these are the same people who won't allow the health care system to include private care options.
And how about what's happening on the energy front in Ontario? More like what isn't happening! There is no reasonable approach being taken to try and upgrade facilities and increase electrical capacity. The current "green energy initiatives" the Grits are leaning on so heavily are costly and meaningless.
Still, what infuriates me most is the "Let them eat cake" attitude of so many politicians today.
I don't always admire the French. But when it comes to this sort of thing they certainly have the right approach in France. If something like the HST or eco tax comes along they simply refuse to pay. The French turn out en masse, block highways and rail lines, hold general strikes and tell the government where to get off. I'm told that, in general terms, it works well.
Honestly, that approach is the only thing that can overcome what is occurring in this province and this country relative to taxation. A massive public revolt is the only answer.
If you have any comments or questions for Jeff Maguire, he can be reached by e-mail at: jeffrey.maguire@rogers.com
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