More taxes?

December 17, 2020 · 0 Comments

by BRIAN LOCKHART

Tax them to death, then tax them some more.

That seems to be the strategy of western governments.

Of course the plan is always carried out by bureaucrats who have expense accounts and personal drivers who fill up the limo for them before driving them to work.

Some Scandinavian countries have this down to a science and like to point out how idyllic their society is with ‘free’ health care, ‘free’ university, and ‘free’ everything else because tax dollars are put right back into building and supporting the country.

But then speak to someone who lives there. Yes, the country is well run, and the people are basically happy – yet, most people never have the luxury of dining out at a restaurant because they can’t afford it.

After they’ve paid for all their ‘free stuff’ though heavy taxation, they have nothing left to enjoy the fun things in life.

Nothing is ‘free.’ Unless university professors, doctors, health care workers, and janitors in the facilities are all volunteers, someone is paying for all the free stuff.

I read a good article recently by a guy who was born and raised in Sweden and still lives there. He said that it is normal not to save any money. After you paid your income tax and every other tax, and your living accommodation expenses, that’s it. You have nothing left. And that is the normal way of living.

Now, we are in a situation where many people have felt the crunch of life with severe restrictions.

Thousands of restaurants are on the verge of closing forever. Many small businesses are in the same boat.

You can’t pay your employees when you have no money coming in.

Yes, dire times indeed.

So what does the government do when millions of people are already strapped for cash?

They start adding more taxes.

Bleed us a little more until there is nothing left.

The Trudeau government just announced the latest plans to make sure your bank account will go into a negative balance.

The plan is to increase the federal carbon tax on fuels to $170 per ton by 2030, starting with a new increase next year.

Gasoline prices will go up by over 30 per cent and so will the cost of fuel oil, natural gas and propane. With all these new taxes on fuel, look for a direct impact on any product you buy that arrives at its destination by truck.

That pretty much is everything – including food.

So those of you that are so anti-environment you actually heat your home during the winter, or feed your family or yourself, expect to pay even more, and more, and more.

The worst part is this announcement comes at a time when so many people are carrying a heavy burden and the economy is grinding to a halt.

Yup, hit them when they’re down.

At least Ontario Premier Doug Ford seems to have more of an understanding of what it’s like to be a regular citizen in this country.

“I can’t understand for the life of me why anyone would want to put a burden on the back of the hard-working people in this province,” Ford said. “This carbon tax is going to be the worst thing you’ll ever

see.”

Ford predicted price hikes on “everything” as increased transportation costs get passed on to consumers.

The one thing the average person won’t see is a hike in their salary or hourly wage to keep up with the rising cost of living.

Of course there will be the hardliners who say we must protect the environment at all costs. Of course we should protect the environment , that’s common sense. But people don’t practice what they preach.

Just drive along town streets and especially the rural side roads. The ditches are littered with coffee cups, plastic water bottles, beer and pop cans, and other assorted garbage people toss out the window of their cars. In extreme cases you’ll find mattresses, bathroom fixtures, and the remnants of a home renovation.

If you polled 1000 people and asked them if they thought protecting the environment was important, you would probably get an almost 100 per cent positive response.

If you followed up with the question, “How often do you throw your garbage out the car window?” do you think you’d get one person to admit they routinely used the roads as a garbage can?

Well someone’s doing it, but it’s always the other guy. Taking care of the natural environment is a common sense thing to do.Taxing your citizens to death at a time when they are already struggling isn’t the right way to do it.