Income-tax burden explodes under Harper

Harper tries to boast he has provided “tax relief” for Canadian families. But the fact is all his boutique tax expenditures, tax-free tax havens and failed corporate tax cuts have actually increased Canadians' income-tax burden.

When it comes to cutting taxes, economists tend to believe that income tax cuts are the most effective. But Harper has been fooling with frivolous tax cuts to target votes, not economic performance.

Income-tax burden explosion

As the Globe and Mail points out, the income-tax burden has exploded under Harper's “steady hand” on the economy:

In the wake of cuts to the GST and corporate income tax rates, personal income taxes are carrying a growing and outsized share of the load of paying for government. By 2018, personal income taxes will account for 50 per cent of total federal revenue – far and away the largest source of money for Ottawa.

Undoing the damage

In order to undo the damage Harper has done, we will need a leader willing to put Harper's wasted tax cuts — which piss away a staggering $44-billion a year — to better use.

It takes money to end 30 years of Tough Tory Times — Canada ranks #23 of 31 OECD developed countries in public social spending. It takes money to create jobs with infrastructure spending — after 30 years of cheaponomics, Canada has amassed a $125-billion infrastructure deficit (crumbling bridges, roads, etc.)

So far, only Tom Mulcair has had the guts to stand up to Harper on this very important issue. Trudeau has vowed not to reverse a single one of Harper's misguided tax cuts that do nothing more than give the rich a free ride and fool with the tax code.

Real change

Canadians must demand real change from Hurricane Harper. That requires real action. Either you are against Harper's corrupt “starve the beast” agenda, or you are for it. There is no middle ground.