FELDSTED -- The “middle class” concept is worthy of our raspberries, sneers and snorts

The prospect of any government catering to a specific class of Canadians is an affront to our social principles of fairness and equality. Our Charter holds that we are all equal before, and under, the law ... and tax laws are not excluded.

The current Income Tax Act (ITA), last amended June 21^st, 2019 runs to 3,281 pages. That is insane. The last major revision to the ITA was in 1985. In the 34 years since, there have been countless amendments resulting in a volume of law far too lengthy -- and complex -- for any person to read and interpret accurately.
 

“Middle Class” is a deliberately vague euphemism intended to deflect criticism of government policy. The government cannot be accused of failing to ensure prosperity for a group that cannot be defined. Since we have a government Minister to oversee an intangible, we can surmise that her real role is to pump out propaganda telling us how well we are treated by her government.

The “middle class” concept is worthy of our raspberries, sneers and snorts. We need to boo and jeer loudly every time the topic is raised. What counts for us is the “net” line on a pay stub; how much is left after taxes and other deductions. That is what we must live on until the next paystub arrives.

Government efforts to manage our incomes are a disaster.

We don’t need bureaucrats to decide that we need a tax rebate because we have children. They grab our money at the pay window, sit on it for a year, reluctantly let us have a little back and expect us to be grateful!

Cut the crap and increase personal deductions for all taxpayers, and increase the tax deduction for children. Don’t confiscate our funds to begin with and allow us to decide how we will spend the funds on our kids.

Government attempts to manage our personal incomes is an outrageous insult. There isn’t a more poorly disciplined fiscal squanderer than governments. If we all spent and borrowed like our governments, we would be bankrupt in short order.

Stop the insanity.

Governments highly tax alcohol and tobacco products as they are not required to sustain life, and are referred to as “sin taxes”. No product should be taxes higher than the federal and provincial sales taxes. Anything more is social engineering and our government has no authority to tax us to change our habits.

Carbon taxes fall into the same category. Government cannot tax petroleum products in an attempt to regulate their use. Governments have no constitutional authority to tax us for anything other than services they deliver and the actual costs of running the government.

We need much less government in our lives and much more of government paying attention to its constitutional responsibilities. Doing their duty is not a lot of fun, but they cannot continue to spend time, energy and public funds on frivolous nonsense ... and things we don’t need and retain our respect.

They won’t catch on until we tell them, and on occasion, they need a hit on the side of the head with a 2 by 4 just to get their attention. Politicians are not listening to the people.

That must change if we value democracy.

John Feldsted
Political Commentator, Consultant & Strategist
Winnipeg, Manitoba