The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Promises, promises, promises. This is apparently what getting elected is all about. Think of the promises that prominent politicians have made and broken. One that comes to mind is Jean Chrtien's famous 1993 pledge to get rid of the GST, and his equally famous backtracking on the issue. Now the Liberals are opposed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cutting this hated tax, as they want to use the revenue for more government programs. There are other broken promises that should be mentioned. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty pledged a few years ago not to raise any taxes then, once in power, brought in a health tax for all taxpayers. Then there was Harper's pledge not to tax income trusts if he was elected, which he did just over a year ago. In fairness, there are often compelling reasons for not keeping your word. Chrtien claimed that when he got into power, he found the state of Canada's finances to be so poor that he had to keep the hated tax. Though the decision dogged him, it really had little affect on his ability to win elections as long as the opposition was split. Perhaps the lack of public outcry encouraged the Liberals to break more promises. McGuinty's about-face on his foolish tax pledge has certainly impacted his popularity in Ontario. If that province's Progressive Conservative leader, John Tory, had not come out with an even more foolish promise to finance faith-based schools, McGuinty may have lost the latest election. We have just passed the first anniversary of Harper's decision to tax Income trusts the same as corporations, breaking what the Liberals say was a solemn promise to investors and causing some of them to lose a lot of money. Harper and his finance minister rightly say they had no choice, as a lot of corporations were planning to become trusts to avoid paying their share of corporate taxes. Remember also that although trusts were a risky investment, lots of people made a lot of money on them and quite a few lost when the government announced its new approach. Trusts are still not yet taxed as corporations and have made a comeback. It is still a no-brainer that if things had stayed the same, taxpayers would have taken a serious hit rather than the tax relief they have been given by the Harper government. The minority Harper government has been undeniably keeping its word on tax relief for the Canadian families. In addition to the previous tax cuts and grants, a mini budget in late October gave even more relief. Bolstered by a projection of $12 billion more revenue than projected, the finance minister sweetened the deal for Canadians by giving them back more of their own money to the tune of $60 billion over the next five years. Included was keeping the promise to lower the GST to five per cent in January. There was also an income tax cut retroactive to January 1, 2007, plus a jump in the basic personal exemption to $10,000 by 2009. As well there were cuts in the corporate tax rate and small business rate. The government claims this is the end of the line for tax cuts for the immediate future, and much of the surplus left will be used to pay down the nation's debt, saving Ottawa money on interest payments. A number of critics, especially those in left-wing think tanks, deplore the tax cuts, saying the money should be used for more government programs and, of course, handouts,. They say social assistance will suffer. Liberal leader Stephane Dion jumped into the act, claiming the GST cut is foolish and promising to raise the tax if elected prime minister (much to the consternation of many in his caucus). Frankly, I have met no one who objects to paying less tax in our overtaxed country. If only the Manitoba government would join in, but could they with their penchant for spending and overspending? Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
