The status quo is a thing that doesn't get much respect debate-wise but I argue in Canada we are not doing that badly.

However there are lots of people who resent taxes. Not just well to do people also typically workers in small factories will be bothered by the fact they pay taxes at all. Never mind that the benefits are many and generous. People take these for granted. Old age pensions, health care and higher education are enormously expensive but people just take these for granted.

Similarly there are a lot of people that equate government spending with progress. The government already spends 40% of the GDP and I calculte the average worker pays $18,000 in tax per year. At the minimum wage the tax load might be about $6,000 so the subsidy is $12,000 a year. The poor already get $12,000 a year, the issues is that's pretty stiff.

   

Ah taxes one of my favorite subjects. I think the working "Poor" pay to much in income tax. Canadians are taxed up to our eyeballs, if we don't pay tax on it we pay licensing fees, permit fees, all levels of Government tax us or expects renumeration for a piece of paper. I'd like to see our Federal and Provincial Governments (regardless of political party) to start using common sense when spending our money. To me it appears that they spend like drucken sailers but we have poor highways, impeded access to health care, our school system is falling apart, poor drinking water the list is endless in NS but each Premier promises the moon the sun and the stars and our taxes keep climbing but I see no tangable proof of where the money is being spent. Run a province and a country like a business and maybe things will improve for all. Mindless spending of our tax dollars has gone on "LONG" enough.

   

I would say the deficts of the recent past are a tax revolt in fact. The other thing is the "silent majority" has little in the way of suggestions as to what programs to cut. They are sympathetic to people who live on welfare, for one, and generally have no idea what could be cut.

   

I think the discontentment for most people is that we are paying good money but getting less service. Look at the health care system it is ranked 32 in the world yet we are 5th for spending. Dollar for dollar ours should be one of the top five in the world but it is not. It is being mismanaged and the taxes we pay are being wasted. If Canadians are going to be paying good money they expect good services in return and if those services don’t deliver to the quality and standards the people expect then taxes are seen as a bad thing and should be reduced. Many governments are already charging more directly to people to pay for things on top of the taxes they pay so something has to give and I don’t think people are going to want to pay for two systems but only get one in return. Taxes are too high in Canada, mostly federally they pay the least out yet take in the most.

I think transferring more tax power to the provinces or letting them use it to fund their own things based on their needs would be better than having Ottawa telling them what to do. It is a third party we are having to go through and would probably be easier to just give money to your province rather than sending it to Ottawa then sending back what they deem you should get in return. The system has to change and the mismanagement and waste within must be dealt with. Then once we do see a fair return on our investment in services the government provides perhaps we won’t mind paying it out.

   

It's true that we pay more than most countries for health care. We should be relatively well looked after. The USA pays even more than we do.

I think the deficit caused a lot of disencantment with government. Interest payment on the federal debt went up to 5% of the GDP so people were paying and paying but not getting services. This went on for a long time and people decided we just weren't getting anything from government.

   

If the deficits of the past can be seen as a tax revolt, what would you call huge surpluses? I would call it over taxation!

   

Maybe so but we'll have to run surpluses for decades to pay down the debt. It's marching orders from the past, Trudeau and Mulroney.

   

I just moved to Alberta. I'm pretty sure the economy there is better then anywhere else on earth.

But you pick up any newspaper and you'd think the sky was falling...

I'm stunned when I pick up the paper and read about how Albertians feel shortchanged and over taxed and no matter how many Ralph bucks they get they have this inherent need to complain about how bad everything is. In the richest province in Canada yet...

I think what the status quo in this country really is goes something like this:

"Generally Canadians have so little to worry about that they end up worrying about all the little things"

I.E. We are spoiled rotten, and really it makes me sick (yes that is a complaint).