The Calgary Sun: Taxing Future

It would be a hilarious coincidence if it didn’t hurt so much.

Not only is June 28 the date of the federal election this year, it is also the day Canadians can start working for themselves. According to The Fraser Institute’s annual Tax Freedom Day calculations, all income earned by the average Canadian family prior to June 28 was used to pay the total tax bill imposed by all levels of government: Federal, provincial, and local.

Tax Freedom Day falls one day later than last year, nationwide. When the Liberals came into power back in 1993, Canadians could celebrate tax freedom on June 10.

What a difference a decade makes as Canadians who struggle to save for their retirement and put their children through college stagger under a mounting tax burden.

On a provincial basis,Tax Freedom Day actually fell six days earlier than it did last year in Alberta. But before any provincial politicians trip over themselves in the rush to take credit, the improvement is skewed by oil and gas revenues, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Albertans actually work longer to pay off their taxes than they did back in 2001, before Ralph Klein hiked health fees, tobacco and alcohol taxes and licence fees.

Compared to the federal Liberal regime however, Klein is a tax slayer of the first order.

Thanks to a steady increase in federal taxation, we get to work for the government 18 days longer than we did back in 1983.

They promised lower taxes, but instead we got the HRDC billion-dollar boondoggle and the $1 billion gun registry.

Then there’s the AdScam scandal that has prompted the Liberals to resort to a smear campaign as they teeter on the brink of defeat .

If voters buy this campaign of fear and intimidation, they might as well toss their wallets into the ballot box at the same time.

This is the cynical regime that has abused and misused taxpayer funds for more than a decade while allowing our health-care system and military to become threadbare.

Returning them to power is like writing them a blank cheque.

If you think the tax hikes we suffered under a decade of Paul Martin as finance minister were bad, just wait until they realize they’ve got away with their plunder of the public purse Scot-free.