Wouldn't it be nice if we got a provincial tax break to go with federal tax breaks
One of the problems with our federal system (or any fedral system in which the two levels of government have taxation powers) is that when one level of government lowers taxes, the other can use the opportunity to raise taxes, figuring that if the electorate sees no difference in the bottom line, they are less likely to gripe about it.
Sometimes it works.
But the Progressive Conservative Party in Ontario have launched a website, Pay-More-Get-Less. to drum up support to keep this from happening again:
The recent budget delivered by the Federal government had a surplus, like the 2006 Ontario budget.
However, the two governments had very different approaches to how they handled our tax dollars.
The Federal government recognized the need to return to fiscal accountability through cutting taxes, focussing federal spending on priority areas and paying down the debt.
Dalton McGuinty decided to launch a wild, spending spree.
For the third year in a row, Dalton McGuinty broke his promise to balance the budget - despite having a $3 billion windfall for the 2005-06 year.
Ontarians continue to pay more to the McGuinty government and receive fewer services in return than ever before.
John Tory and the Ontario PC Party think that enough is enough!
Check out the site. If you agree that Ontario's Liberal government under Dalton McGuinty should be showing some fiscal restraint, and better yet, some consistency when it comes to keeping his promises, then consider helping John Tory make it happen.
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Comments
And in what way does Harper's budget lower taxes?
- Are income taxes lower?
- Does the government take in less money in taxes?
- Will program spending go down?
Posted by: Johan i Kanada at May 9, 2006 01:05 PM
(1) Yes, income taxes per person are lower on average of about $1000
(2) Yes, per capita taxes (will) have dropped significantly. See Above.
(3) No, Program spending is up. I think most conservatives are hoping a majority will lead to huge spending cuts. Hard to do in a minority situation with the NDP and Libs crying wolf about spending cuts already.
Posted by: Joe_Canuck at May 9, 2006 03:51 PM
I think Tory is twice the man Mike Harris was so I don't see him as being cut from that cloth. However, to be fair McGuinty has had this albatross of the deficit that the Conservatives left behind when they were defeated.
McGuinty will retire the debt before tne next election. If he can govern for four more years and return Ontario to something closer to its former self in those good old days of Bill Davis, then perhaps he deserves one more electoral victory. You can't properly judge someone who has been put in the financial strait-jacket that McGuinty found himself in.
Posted by: steve d. at May 9, 2006 05:19 PM
There is nothing wrong in principle with the federal government cutting taxes and the provincial government raising them by a similar amount as long as the level of public services remains unchanged.
In fact, given the large amounts the federal government typically transfers to the provinces to fund programs under provincial jurisdiction, it would be a lot more efficient to cut out the middleman and have us pay our taxes directly to the government that provides the service.
Posted by: Steve at May 9, 2006 10:06 PM
Top 50 list of Dalton McGuinty's Broken Promises
1. "I won't raise your taxes."
2. Balance the Budget every year of their mandate
3. Balance the Budget by 2007
4. Roll back tolls on the 407
5. Fund Medically-Necessary Health Care Services (de-listed eye exams, chiropractic care and physiotherapy
6. Not Add to the Province's Debt
7. Stop 6,600 Houses on the Oak Ridges Moraine
8. Abide by the Balanced Budget law
9. Cap Hydro Rates at 4.3 cents per Kilowatt Hour Until 2006
10. Respect MPPs and Democracy
11. Allow all non-cabinet MPPs to criticize and vote against government legislation
12. Provide autism treatment beyond age six
13. Reduce Auto Insurance Rates by 10% Within 90 Days
14. Reduce Private Consultants
15. Cancel P3 Hospitals in Brampton and Ottawa
16. Public Inquiry into Meat Inspection
17. Withdraw Government Appeal on the Richmond Landfill
18. Make Ontario's Chief Medical Officer an independent officer of the Legislature
19. Govern with honesty and integrity
20. Respect the Outcome of the Kawartha Lakes Referendum on Amalgamation
21. Better mental health care
22. Value and Support the Public Service
23. Divert 60% of municipal garbage to recycling by 2005
24. Close "private" MRI and CT clinics
25. Stop School Closings
26. "Immediately" establish an Arts and Culture Advisory Council
27. Provide Adequate, Multi-Year Funding for Hospitals
28. Hire Over 1,000 Teachers a Year
29. Hire 1,000 New Police Officers
30. Close Coal-Fired Electricity Plants by 2007
31. Hire 100 New Parole and Probation Officers
32. Double the Number of Apprentices
33. Create Tens of Thousands of New Child Care Spaces
34. End the "Clawback" of the Federal Child Tax Credit
35. Build 20,000 New Affordable Housing Units
36. Spend "Every Penny" of the New Health Tax on Health Care
37. Cut Ministers' Pay for Running a Deficit
38. Eliminate Barriers to Foreign-Trained Professionals within One Year
39. Require Trades and Professions to Accept Qualified Immigrants within One Year
40. Repeal the Tenant Protection Act within One Year
41. Establish a Standing Committee on Education to Hold Yearly Hearings
42. Liberal Promises Would Cost $5.9 Billion
43. Provide Legal Rights to Victims of Crime
44. Hire 8,000 nurses by the end of 2007
45. Make the Ministry of Agriculture a lead ministry
46. Invest in rural roads and bridges
47. Support the Province's Cities
48. Make sure health dollars are being spent wisely
49. Stop the waste of taxpayers' dollars
50. Guarantee stable, long-term funding for our rural communities
So to all you people who want more of this crap from the Scumbag Fascist Party of Ontario just keep voting Lieberal.
As for the debt McGuinty inherited, it was nothing like the debt Harris inherited after buffalo Bob and his misfits had finished. A debt the was the highest in Ontario's history.
Posted by: pissedoff at May 9, 2006 10:20 PM
I hope McGuinty goes the way of Bob Rae... buh bye!
Posted by: Mac at May 10, 2006 12:34 AM
Joe,
1) Actually, personal income taxes will INCREASE (Jan 2006 vs Jan 2007):
- the lowest tax bracket rate will increase to 15.5%
- the basic personal and spousal amounts will be reduced, thus also increasing taxes
How did you come up with $1000 savings?
2) The federal personal income tax revenue is expected/projected to INCREASE roughly $3billion per year (at least until 2008).
Tax and spend!
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...
Posted by: Johan i Kanada at May 10, 2006 04:32 AM
pissedoff
However bad you think McGuinty has been he has been a hundred times better than what was before him. Most of the things that were not done can be traced back to the box the last government left him in. Some of the things on your list were done.
The real question will be will the Ontario voter be ready to forgive and forget what the Conservatives did to the province over eight years of total neglect.
Posted by: steve d. at May 10, 2006 11:50 AM
For your information, steve d., Mike Harris won't be running in the next election.
Posted by: potato at May 10, 2006 03:03 PM
potato
You may have noticed that sometimes governments leave such a mess that it takes years to recover. So while Mike Harris is not running again, the damage he did still lives on. It is one thing for him to be gone and quite another for his mess to be over.
Posted by: steve d. at May 10, 2006 06:40 PM
I wonder how many years it'll be before the corruption of the FedLibs is over? Thankfully, we've never had to deal with a Fed-Dipper government!!
Posted by: Mac at May 10, 2006 09:23 PM
Where do you find this current tax rate of 15% in law? What bill did the Liberals pass through the House of Commons and the Senate to enact that change?
Posted by: Paul O at May 11, 2006 01:38 AM
Paul,
The budget itself says that the lowest tax rate will increase from 15% (from Jan 2006) to 15.5% (as of July 2006).
In other words, I will pay more in income tax from July 1, as compared to what I do now.
I call that a tax increase, don't you?
"Tax and spend - Meet the new boss, same as the old boss"
Posted by: Johan i Kanada at May 11, 2006 11:47 AM
Johan, the last Liberal mini-budget dropped the tax rate from 15.5% for the lowest incomes to 15% so to suggest the Conservatives are being duplicitous by returning the rate to it's previous rate is dishonest. Don't you find it odd how the Liberals waited until just before an election to pull a stunt like that? Perhaps they were trying to buy votes??
Posted by: Mac at May 12, 2006 08:49 PM
Mac,
Of course the Liberals were trying to buy votes, as was the Conservatives.
That doesn't change the fact that my taxes will now go up and that federal spending is out of control.
"Tax and spend - Meet the new boss, same as the old boss"
Posted by: Johan i Kanada at May 13, 2006 03:54 AM
 
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