[Furious]

Okay, I know we rule but I am gonna play Devil's advocate here.
I am a little down in the dumps here. Must be the few beer (yay Labatt's!) I have had but I don't think so. I think it is the frustration I feel and I know is shared by many of us.
But what the hell can we do???
My problem? Well I just recieved a notice in the mail from Revenue Canada saying I owe them some $$. Apparently I didn't pay ENOUGH taxes in 2003 and I owe still.
I am not a cheat. I am a middle income earner with a 'stay at home mom' for a wife and 2 wonderful kids (4 and 6 years old). I pay enough taxes in a year to buy a sweet new vehicle. And yet I have to pay more. I am lucky that no one in my family is unhealthy and I know I am lucky that I have a job that pays my wonderful benifits. But I want the toys that I know the Americans in my equivalent tax bracket have.
So why do we kick ass? Please people, help me feel better about the system and my country....

[kerfuffled]

We can go around sayin' we kick ass but the fact is our country ain't what it should be.The gov is hosing us for all kindsa $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and we are getting less and less for it all the time.We are a complacent bunch up here.Guess it takes a whole lot to get us REEEEAAAALLLYYYYY mad.The waste of tax payer $ is just mindboggling.I shake my head almost every day .Still we just sit here like bumps on a log and it goes on and on.I wonder what it will take to make any real change in this country.

[Sagard]

Allright ...fine and dandy we can all bitch whine and compain about the tax here as we all do and i have as well .. im guilty of it just as the person next to me is ... but ... yes we could be the same as the u.s and be able to have the toys that someone in the same tax bracket as we do has but what do we sacrifice to have that ... i think the biggest and only thing that has to be said is free medicare ... we can get sick and not have to worry about what its goign to cost us or are families if heaven forbid we dont make it through the issue we have if we can even afford to get through the issue we have because of the high medical bills ... so all i have to say is the next time we hav eto complain about how much we have to pay in or if we owe a little more then we thought....we can get sick and survive it without goign into debt ... just my opinion anyways

[Tonto]

.... Yes Furious....you can have the toys like the Americans have...and then you can willingly pay $ 700.00 per month on the average for health care for you and your family....thats only a measly $8400 for the year....cheap wouldnt you say so......the grass is always greener until you get there and see for yourself.....

[canadian1971]

It is kinda sad eh....oh well....bend over and grab your ankles...its the government were talking aboot here....free health care???? you dont live in alberta do you? they make you pay for your free health care!

[RogueCanadian]

The health care in Alberta is not free because?????? If only we were a rich province that could take a very small percentage of revenue from, oh I don't know, our oil and gas Industry and give the hard working people some relief. <---(sarcasm) The amount of money that is generated from this industry is astronomical. This has allowed Alberta to have a surplus but yet we don't see any reduction in taxes or other money grabs. But yet come election time we do get measly rebates on our heating. When are we going to see the benefits of our economic winfall>???????

[Telkwa]

Furious Furious:

I am a middle income earner with a 'stay at home mom' for a wife and 2 wonderful kids (4 and 6 years old).

Sorry, Furious. You are in the high tax category. My guess is that your tax form is very simple; how much did you earn? how many dependents? Here's what you pay. Send it in. Not a damn thing you can do about it. Been there done that. If you had your own business and earned the same gross, you would have lots of deductions. If you were a salesman on comissions and expenses, you would have deductions. Unfortunately, a wage slave is a tax slave. It's a bit out dated, based on high industrial wages.

Check with any recently retired people. As soon as they retire, their taxes drop dramatically. What is goofy is that many of them have investments that keep them in luxury. The system isn't fair, but you will out grow it.

[RogueCanadian]

I am one of those wage slaves..... unfortunately I paid about 45k in tax last year... not something I want to think about. I feel that its ridiculous to be paying so much, and getting shafted in the end. I have entertained the thought of moving to another country, and commuting to work just to save on taxes. But I would be leaving everything else behind that makes Canada a worthwhile place to live.

[Furious]

$1:

So why do we kick ass? Please people, help me feel better about the system and my country....

If I was in the States I wonder if I would've grabbed a gun and headed for the nearest tall tower by now?

[mcpuck]

I wouldn't even start comparing ourselves to the Americans. Their economic system is very different. Their priorities are very different.

Beyond comparing us to anyone, I would like you to consider that the government takes more from the lower income earners than the high income earners.

Tax breaks to Corporations and the "movers and shakers" of industry is supposed to help Canada because these elites create jobs and wealth.

But do they? Do they really benefit Canadians? How would it hurt our economy if everyone paid the same percentage of taxes across the board?

If a guy making 23,000 pays 14% ($3220.00) and a guy who makes 230,000 pays 14% ($32,200.00), are they not paying the same portion of their income back to the government? One guy will have just under 20 grand to spend on his life and the other will have just under 200 grand. This is strictly a federal tax thing.

I know this seems overly simplistic but I know I smell a rat here. Look at the private airport authorities across the country whining about increases in land rent. They are bitching that rent may account for almost 14% of their operating costs (my numbers may be wrong). Nonetheless, most average income Canadians pay 20 to 40 percent of their net income out to rent.

This same pattern persists throughout Canada in situations such as greenhouse emissions control. If big industry creates several times more greenhouse emissions than do regular homes, why is the government setting up stupid programs like the "One Ton Challenge" using Rick Mercer as their spokesperson?

Perhaps through all the taxes, rent and smog they are just blowing greenhouse gasses up our ass?

The elites want you to blame your plight on Government mismanagement because its only the surface of what is really wrong with the whole system.

If our social welfare system (including welfare, EI and medicare) only costs 150 billion a year and our GDP is hovering over 800 billion a year, where is all the money going? Why are we paying so much? Why is medicare failing? Its just two plus two and dollars and sense. Isn't it?

This is a very rich and successful country. Why do average Canadians have to carry a heavy debt just to feel rich and successful?

[BiffGuy]

...and it's not just the income taxes. It's the sales taxes and the taxation through permits and licences.

And I'm getting ticked off hearing the same old comeback everytime anyone complains about the ridiculous taxes in this country: "Hey, we have medicare. How'd you like to go into debt for the next 10 years to have vericose veins cut out of your butt?"

That's bull. If medicare were run properly, it wouldn't be nearly the drain on the government coffers it has become. It's an inefficient system. It reflects the way government is done in Canada: waste with little or no accountability.

One billion dollars disappeared from HRDC without a trace. And nobody went to jail. Millions disappeared into Liberal-friendly marketing companies. And so far, nobody has gone to jail, and it's unlikely that anybody will.

And who's to blame? Politicians? Civil servants? Corrupt business people?

Nope. None of the above.

The nail was hit on the head in a few posts above. We, the people of Canada, are to blame for keeping out mouths shut and letting smug little a asshole toss golf balls around a hearing into an event that should put dozens of people behind bars and blatantly lie to the public that there was no wrong-doing.

There was. Period.

But because we're Canadians, we'll be entertained by Jean's pathetic little act and forget about the whole thing as quickly as possible.

We don't need people going up towers with guns, we need people going up towers with loudspeakers...all over the country. On the same day. With the same list of financial atrocities. Maybe call it Yell at the Top of a Tower Day.

Biff
Silence says it all.

www.biffmitchell.com

[Dan74]

I understand that Healthcare is the most important thing to Canadians as it should be.But there is something wrong when people are waiting 10 hours inside an ambulance in downtown Toronto.
Billions are wasted and mismanaged yet we throw more money at the problem and nothing is happening.Doctors and nurses are heading south and even with them having to pay for medical insurance some are still taking home double than they could make here.
User fee's are a swear word in Canada as is a two tier system.These things are shot down before anybody can suggest them.But our heath care is not gonna be around much longer unless we do something soon.
Cuba and North Korea are the only other countries in the world that donot allow private medical.Truth betold we already have a 2 tier system the rich are heading south and paying for it.This is starting to get middle income people to morgage their homes so they can pay for their medical care in the States.
Some would say that takes care of the problem and taking the burden off the Canadian Healthcare.But these people pay taxes just like the rest of us and should beable to get it here.
But even as our healthcare fails billions are wasted on guns registry,HDRC,CBC,Governer General,etc,etc,etc...........
We are gonna have to make some hard choices soon and I think the only solution will be political suicide for those who suggest it.

[Rev_Blair]

You guys should really take the time to sit down and read the Romanow Report. Don't read reports on the report because all they ever talk about is the money being spent. Sit down and read the report itself. It's dull as hell...even slower moving than a Tolkien tome...but the recommendations for ways to save money address many of the concerns I constantly see being raised in discussions like this.