Yesterday I found "The Shakiest Gun in the West" on Youtube and decided I'd watch it for old time's sake. The last time I saw that things were sure different in Canada! I had a job where I was earning a good living at 10 bucks an hour and if I wanted some midnight munchies I could go out and get a bag of cheese popcorn for less than 2 bucks.
I am earning a SHYTE living now at 10 bucks an hour and I got a bag of cheese popcorn to eat while watching the movie last night. It cost almost 5 bucks! But cheese popcorn isn't the thing that has gone up in price the most since then. Not by a long shot. I was looking at tuition prices for the English program at Lakehead U. That's where I graduated in 1994. In the 17 years since then the price, (and this is only tuition, not books, rent and other essentials while you are studying), has QUADROUPLED!
I am noticing a trend in the news stories they put out nowadays. It's what I like to call "False Flag Journalism." They write a story telling the truth about something like prices going up in Canada or taxes getting worse and try to make it appear like they are concerned about how things are. Then they give statistics and half truths, (and sometimes NON-truths), that totally downplay the situation and make is seem not so bad. One recent article was about the .04% inflation rate in Canada or some crap like that. Well if you figure the inflation rate of my tuition it's damn near 25%. Why don't I see an article written about that? Another example was an article in which the author stated that pajamas, pillows and some other p word, I dunno, pickles were more expensive in Canada than in the States. Hello? McFly? EVERYTHING is more expensive in Canada than in the States. Even things we MAKE in Canada!
I think the big problem here is taxes and since I am now paying them again I have a right to bitch about them. And I'll need to prepare for the beating I'll take this year through taxes so I best make myself a budget. So here goes: a history of Canadian taxes and just a few examples of the greed/corruption that has gone along with them and made Canada such a ridiculously expensive place to live. This WON'T be false flag journalism so if you can't stand anything bad being said about Canada, even if it's the truth, stop reading now.
Before 1867 Canada was a nice place to move to because there weren't any taxes. People from England were showing up to get away from the taxation in their land. But at least at home they had the collection of said taxes under the pretense that God had chosen the royal family to rule Mother England and all the subjects of the royal family should give God his just deserts through His representative family. Or whatever...
Here in Canada did you ever wonder where taxes came from? I'll tell you where they came from. Out of NOwhere, that's where they came from. In 1867 the Constitution Act assigned federal parliament power over "the raising of money by any mode or system of taxation." And the provinces received something similar. This was not a price paid for someone new moving to Canada, it was just a bunch of Canadian people who presumed to tell a larger bunch of Canadian people that they HAD to give them a portion of their money because this group called "government" knew how to do exactly that, govern the country and the average person was too stupid to do it him/herself. And maybe they were right because, as has since become our specialty, the large group of Canadian people said, "Oh, well, I dunno, that seems, um not so, oh, um, er, well okay, I guess..."
But it wasn't so bad. About 90% were indirect taxes. Until 1917 when the Borden government introduced a temporary tax called "income tax" that was only a temporary measure to aid in the temporary fighting overseas. Oh and in politcalese "temporary" means "permanent" at least where taxation is concerned. By 1946 with the political advent of WWII, the Canadian government was bold enough to change the taxation system to where less than 40% was now indirect tax. And the Canadian citizens said, "Oh, well, I dunno, I'm kinda tired of fighting after these two wars, not to mention paying for them, so I'll just say, well, um, okay, I guess..."
And nowadays, as I have become abundantly aware since returning to Canada, we, as citizens of this great country, are nothing more than numbered consumers. We're commodities to those few in charge, the rich, the corporate, the banks who all control the government in order to get the highest yield from each of us. All through taxation. If you think I'm being a negative Nancy here, capital tax, which was introduced at the end of the 19th century and is a tax charged on a corporation's taxable capital was eliminated on the federal level on Jan. 1, 2006. Did you know that? Did you vote for that?
On the provincial levels Ontario got rid of this nasty tax on the only people in their provice who could afford it on, (how patriotic!), Canada Day, 2010. I think in B.C. it was axed on a more appropriate day, April 1, 2010 because we are fools to let corporations pay LOWER taxes than the rest of us in Canada! A study, (they had to do a study to figure this out?), done in 2007 found that the richest in Canada pay the lowest rates of tax of all income groups. Last fiscal year the government collected 3 times the amount of personal tax as it did corporate tax. And without capital tax, even lower now. And the rest of Canada said, "Well, um, yeah but, we don't really like, um, er, uh, oh well, okay."
We still have the "temporary" income tax. That makes up about 40% of the government revenue every year. Or so we're told. In a study done in 2005 it was reckoned that the average household making the average Canadian income, (that's gross including social security contributions by employer), paid a personal income tax of 31.6% of his/her wage if he/she was single. Only 21.5% if married with two kids. I've DONE it folks! I have found the one and only GOOD reason to get married and have kids!!! Oh well too late for me.
But don't be fooled. We don't pay only 31.6% of our income, (our GROSS income), on taxes. We should BE so lucky! What if you have a house? Property tax makes up 10% of the government's total tax revenue in Canada. Or so we've been told. A house is one of those things that people HAVE TO have. In economic terms I think these things are called "inelastic" goods because supply and demand doesn't affect them. People always need them. So the government wouldn't be evil and take advantage of people by taxing essentials would they? Well only a little. There is property tax. But don't worry, if you die and leave your house to someone in your will there is no estate tax in Canada! Good news! It was abolished by Trudeau.
Uh, but, um, when a peson dies there IS a "deemed disposition" of all capital property. This includes stocks, bonds, RRSP's and, yes, real estate. What it means is your capital property is treated as sold at fair maket value on the day of your death. Your estate must pay capital gains tax on all that property, which, um, er, CAN be over 50%! We have to pay it when we die but corporations don't have to pay it any more. So if a house is passed on twice, the government gets its full value. Or at least COULD get. If it's passed on from generation to generation the government gets more value from it than you. So I guess they DO take advantage of the Canadian taxpayer on the home.
So that's 31.6% income tax. Add to that the payroll taxes like E.I, C.P.P., Worker's Comp., Employer Health Tax etc., which is about 12% That's 43.6% of our income. Considering the average renter and/or mortgage payer tends to pay 35-40% of his/her wages on their home, (a guy making 10 bucks an hour and living in Victoria pays WAY more than that! Like 60%), we're now up to 78.6. Since the government will gauge us if we try to sell or even GIVE AWAY our houses, let's say 80% shall we?
But what about another essential: food? Surely we all have to eat to survive. Our government isn't going to screw us on THIS front are they? Well this one is complicated. There is, of course, a varying group of sales taxes on food anywhere from the Albertan's 5% to 15.5% in P.E.I. And I remember when certain essentials like food didn't have sales tax I'm sure of it! Nowadays there is supposed to be no G.S.T. charged on food or essentials but we've all seen it. One of the tricks of the proposed H.S.T. was to allow taxation of extra essentials like toilet paper and other things. Who are we kidding, in 10 years it'll all be taxed anyway. Between tariffs, duties, store mark-ups, inflation and who knows what else food already IS hugely taxed. As illustrated with the cheese popcorn, it ain't getting any cheaper! In this study it was figured that the average monthly grocery bill in Canada per person was $244.00 per month. That's about $3000.00 a year. If you take home $30,000 a year these days in Canada you are pretty damn lucky so let's say food is about 10% of our budget.
That puts us up to 90% already! And we're not even through with the essentials! Or at least what I would consider essentials... Let's look at some well known hidden taxes our beloved government charges on us. Excise taxes are sometimes called "Sin" taxes because they are often associated with things that aren't necessary and some people consider bad, like alcohol or cigarettes. It's pretty tough to get actual figures on how much these taxes are. Only the government really knows. But I have it on pretty good authority, (whatever that is), that 67% of cigarette prices are taxes and government mark-up. (That's before sales tax is added to the other two taxes). 48% of the price of gas. For distilled spirits the tax is $11.06 for a 1 litre bottle. I couldn't figure it out for something that is more of a staple than a luxury: beer. But the brewers pay a tax, ($2.30/case), and then the consumers pay too. In 2004 Canadians paid 1.005 billion in GST on booze, 1.221 billion in excise tax and 3.567 billion dollars on government mark-up. They can get away with that because government regulation on alcohol sales creates a monopoly. That's illegal for any other goods but for alcohol, cigarettes, gas, gambling, hydro and lots of other things, it's okay. Cuz they're the government!
Wait a sec! Now we're getting into some things that aren't luxuries! We all have to pay heat, hydro, water, gas, cable, internet and these things we call utilities. This will definitely eat up the other 10% of your budget. So now the average Canadian has spent all of his/her money on tax. Well except for food and utilities, which are mostly tax. Almost 100% tax rate. Oh Canada!
What if we want anything like a car, gas, entertainment, or things that aren't necessary to keep a good consumer, uh, I mean citizen alive? Since we've spent 100% of our money on the essentials, (and don't forget we haven't even included SALES TAX!), we can't afford this other stuff. I guess this is all supposed to be purchased by the rich with the money the government saved them in capital and corporation taxes. So we shouldn't mind if it's taxed a lot. No, don't worry, the government will give you credit to buy the luxuries and then tax the crap out of the money you borrow and call it "interest!" Yes, banks ARE government too, Sparky.
And then there are the cases of double taxation. This, our govenment has told us for years, is something they are trying to make sure NO Canadian has to endure. When I buy a pack of smokes I pay sales tax on my excise tax don't I? Not to mention on the government mark-up. Same with booze. Income tax when not paid immediately accrues interest. That's tax on top of tax. The duty charged on the price of a product made cheaply in China is charged to make local prices more competitive. We pay sales tax on all duty and tariff price hikes, not just the original prices.
These "inelastic" goods that the government taxes include cigarettes and alcohol and things people become addicted to. THAT'S why nothing affects the demand! There are proposed excise taxes to TV, fatty food, internet, cable, even prostitution. A couple guys in Quebec got addicted to gambling between 1996 and 1999. They made some huge bets on some longshots and were lucky enough to cash in to the tune of millions of dollars. The government called them up in 2000 and said they wanted their cut of that since the gambling constituted a business and was subject to taxation. The judge ruled that there was no evidence of a ?system? so the brothers won. So if you gamble with a system, (???), it's a business and they'll try to get THAT too.
Insert your own outrageous Canadian tax story here.
The average Canadian gets battered all year by taxes and then in April he/she gets ass-raped by income tax. AND WE, (with the help of H&R Block), ARE FORCED TO DO IT ALL OURSELVES AT OUR OWN EXPENSE! Now I remember why I went to Korea.
But, I have hockey, er, um, good beer, fresh air, um, er, I dunno, cheese popcorn, humm, humm, Kraft Dinner, haw, haw, I guess I'll do it too, I guess, um, humina humina, er...
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