It is time
that we Canadians put our collective feet down and say “no more cutbacks to the
old and poor and sick”. What on earth do
we pay taxes for? To keep the rich in
wealth? To have penguins and pandas in
our zoos? To buy antiquated submarines
and airplanes without motors? To build
bridges and roads that line vendor pockets?
NO.
We are in the 21st century and the Sheriff of Nottingham and
his ilk should long ago have been outlawed from our civilization. We pay taxes to ensure the General Population’s
life is Civilized. This means educating
our young so that they can have meaningful, purposeful careers without a load
of debt once their schooling is complete.
It means that those who have worked diligently all their adult lives
(some 40 years) can retire at the Expected Age of 65 and have a pension that
keeps them in the relative lifestyle they have been accustomed to over the past
40 years. It means being able to rely on
swift, efficient and affordable health care.
The trouble we have is that the media
does not provide us with full disclosure. In other words, they are not doing
their job of informing us correctly. The
information is available and can be disseminated if journalists took the
trouble to sift through the material (specifically the Federal cost report /
budget). Let’s just think about the “horrendous”
cost of keeping a senior from the age of 65.
Oh my, 2.4% of the annual budget, and over the next 20 years it will
increase by 1%. Gosh, isn’t that huge? Give me a break!
Yesterday I was having coffee with some
colleagues and they said they heard now they are talking about 68, not 67. I choked on my coffee. Then I thought “they are leaking out
different numbers to get reaction. When
the budget rolls out, we will be relieved that it is 67 instead of 68. Once they have us, we will see it pushed back
to 70 within 5 years.” Oh yes, they have
us by the you know what.
Driving home last night I heard that 2
brilliant (read the irony in my voice) university professors from Calgary and
Toronto (who have probably never been out of their ivory tower) tell Canadians
that we should be paying taxes on food and medicine and we would have so much
more money in the tax coffers. Isn’t
that brilliant. Why don’t we lay more
burden on the ones least able to afford it.
Are you kidding me? Put tax
on food when seniors are already struggling to buy groceries?
- write a letter to your MP, your MLA, your Alderman
- do a petition and send it to the newspapers, and the above
- speak to your friends and colleagues about your concerns
I say – People Unite. Pre-Seniors, we need to take a stand. Yes, that means YOU.
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