Check It Out: Who is delusional?
By Joan Janzen
joanjanzen@yahoo.com
An avid reader said, “I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. I just cannot put it down.”
Finally, after two years, the federal government delivered their 700-page budget, but it may not be an exciting read. However the 700 pages may explain why it took so long to deliver. The federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Franco Terrazzano, and a long-standing MP, Dean Allison shared their thoughts about the budget, after taking time to examine the lengthy document.
Taking into account that PM Trudeau wracked up more federal debt than all our previous PM’s combined, the budget was not a huge surprise. In it, $100,000 billion in new spending was announced, including $30 billion for a national childcare program and $17.6 billion for environmental efforts.
New taxes for luxury items such as boats, luxury cars and aircraft were announced, as well as a digital tax, which could affect most Canadians who consume their entertainment online. It’s no surprise that the government was hesitant to introduce increased taxes, since they raised the carbon tax twice during the pandemic, and 35 to 50 percent of each Canadian’s income currently goes to government fees.
Dean Allison noted, “In terms of taxation, nothing about this was made into the budget. There was no mention of how we’re going to pay for it, so this sounds like an election budget to figure out how they can buy some votes. But it has got to be paid back at some time.”
Franco agreed noting the government wants to permanently increase government spending for years to come and is using Covid 19 as a cover for what they want to do. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said spending on a national childcare plan is an economic policy that’s going to be great for the economy as it helps get women into the work force. However it’s not quite as straight forward as it sounds.
“This is a very costly program that we couldn’t even afford before Covid, and we certainly can’t afford it now. Even if it saves parents money today, their children and grandchildren will be paying for it in the future,” Franco said.
“Many people won’t be able to access the program. Rural Canada doesn’t fit into the one size fits all. Those that are most vulnerable will have a hard time accessing a national childcare program because of where they work, work schedules and living in rural areas. The affluent will be able to have access, but do they need a national childcare program?” Dean Allen asked.
Franco said, “Recovery is on everyone’s mind, but we don’t need government spending billions. We need to keep money in Canadians’ pockets so they have more to spend within our economy.”
He also said that another thing that needs to be at the top of people’s minds is our huge interest tab, since we were already paying $80 million a day on interest on the federal debt before Covid. “Spending does not equate to restarting the economy. We have record low interest rates now but there is no talk about what happens if interest rates go up even a couple of percentage points,” Allen said. “If the Liberals are able to get back into power, people are going to be widely shocked at what’s going to happen in terms of taxation in order for them to pay for these crazy promises.”
Those promises are creating more debt that will need to be paid back with interest, which should get our attention, since every Canadian man, woman and child already owes $30,000 as part of the federal debt.
When will Canadians realize the government can’t solve problems by throwing money at them? When will Canadians realize that keeping people in a state of dependency upon government is not about leadership, but is about control?
If we have an increasing unbearable tax burden placed upon our work force, combined with an aging population, how are we going to care for our aging population? These are things we need to talk about now, but the government is making it increasingly difficult for Canadians to make their voices heard.
Bill C-10 will give the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) the power to regulate what Canadians see, hear and say online. This is alarming, since we’ve already seen evidence of posts deleted because they would “harm the Liberal party”. MP Steven Guilbeault called Conservative opposition to Bill C-10 “delusional”.
The definition of delusional is: “beliefs that are contradicted by reality or rational argument”. It sounds like a fitting description of the federal budget.
You can contact me at joanjanzen@yahoo.com