June 7 marked Tax Freedom Day in British Columbia. That’s the day the Fraser Institute says the “average” family with an income of $105,000 has paid all of their federal, provincial, municipal and sales tax burdens for the year.
The Fraser Institute uses its annual report on Tax Freedom Day to bemoan taxes generally and the higher rate the top 20 per cent of earners pay specifically. Of course, for some of them, Tax Freedom Day could have been celebrated on Jan. 1. As revealed by the Panama Papers, hundreds of Canadians and Canadian companies set up firms in tax haven countries where they could stockpile cash away from the snooping eyes of the Canada Revenue Agency.
The not-so-between-the-lines message the Fraser Institute brings year after year is that we’d all be better off if the government would leave our hard-earned tax dollars alone and let the all-wise and benevolent free market provide the services society needs. Always absent in the Fraser Institute’s criticism is the concept of value for dollar.
We welcome this week the provincial investment of our taxes in expanding the BCIT Student Association child-care centre (see story on page 3).
But even with this expansion, we’re still far short of what is needed to adequately address the lack of child-care facilities and spots in this city. Parents shouldn’t have to sit on waiting lists for two years just to be assured of responsible child care.
The bottom line is, we, frankly, resent the implication that we should be grateful to be given something that should be part of a rational, just and caring society.
We also don’t for one minute think that a free-for-all free market system will ensure quality child care for everyone. In fact, one only has to look at our neighbours down south to see what an anti-tax, anti-government philosophy breeds.
In the U.S., maternity leave is up to 12 weeks – if the state you live in has it, and if you qualify. We may have to pay more in taxes in Canada, but the benefits of a one-year paid parental leave for the child, the family and society as a whole are tremendous. And that’s just one place where your tax dollars are at work.
Kids with strong starts and support systems are healthier both physically and mentally.
Canadians may pay more up front, but it’s a much better system than in the U.S., where everyone ends up paying for the unfortunate human byproducts of neglect and poverty.
Thanks, but no thanks, Fraser Institute. We’ll take the higher tax rate with the benefits anytime over the alternatives.
