July 2000 Fraser Forum: Editor's Notes
I was in a gift store recently and was horrified to find the sales clerk unpacking Christmas trinkets. I must have looked appalled, because she apologized for the unseasonable nature of her task and explained that when the company who made the gifts was ready to ship them, she had to be ready to receive them, or she risked missing out on these treasures later on in the year.
Her actions seem so incongruous because Christmas seems so long in the past, and so far in the future. The entire populace is now wearing sandals, shorts, and is quickly cooking itself brown in the hot summer sun. Teachers are off on their mid-year break. Valentine's Day has passed, as has Easter, and Mother's and Father's Days. Canada Day is here.
But think back to Christmas. Right after it is New Year. Remember this year's Y2K scare? Doesn't that seem forever ago? Keep that date in mind. Now consider this: if we paid our tax bill first, before keeping any of the money we earned for ourselves, from then until now is how long the average Canadian taxpayer would have worked to pay all of his or her taxes. The specific data are included in this issue of Fraser Forum, but for the average taxpayer, Tax Freedom Day is pretty much now.
Sure, it's worth celebrating. Sure, we're glad that that symbolic day is behind us, but how can we bear such a heavy tax burden? For a logical mind, working for a good half-year to support not just health care and social programs, but silly make-work projects, unused government-funded studies, and obnoxious "cultural" undertakings is enough to cause anyone to despair.
Some may well think that I am just being selfish when I daydream about the myriad things I would like to use my money for. But however I choose to spend (or invest) my money, it is for things important to me. This sort of spending and investing will help boost the economy, which in turn will help provide more tax revenue to fund those programs that really are necessary.
Most Canadians call for wise stewardship of this country's natural resources. In light of our scandalously late Tax Freedom Day, they might also consider calling for wise stewardship of the productive efforts of its people.
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