This is clearly the year of the overtaxed Canadian, nevermind what the Chinese say it is. And as always, it starts from the top down.
first off, Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP) wants to tax any and all new MP3 player purchases. Or purchases of iPods, possibly external hard drives and laptops. Because, you know, everyone who buys one’s a bloody criminal. You’ll note the MP who’s pushing the bill in question calls it a levy. Which, really, is just another way of saying pirate tax. We already have one on blank CD’s and casette tapes, just in case we’d dare buy one and use it for all those songs we legally bought off iTunes. And people wonder why I’m of the opinion free shit’s good shit.
Relatedly in the WTF column, everyone’s favourite Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has decided to allow broadcasters and cable/satelite providers to negotiate a fee for carriage. Which, escentially, means cable and satelite subscribers will be paying for the local TV stations we’d be watching anyway. Because, you know, Rogers and company won’t be letting it cut into their profits if they can help it. I don’t know that I’d call it a straight out and out tax, like some of the advertisements I’ve seen about it proclaim, but it’s definitely at the very least an unneeded user fee. And, well, very naive to think any price the two sides agree on won’t be transfered to the consumer. Tax or not, though, it’s not doing a thing to change my mind about watching most of my television for free. But then, maybe that isn’t the point. Oh well.
Not to take the spotlight entirely away from our friends over there in Ottawa, though, but over in the other direction–in Toronto–we have even more reason to scratch our heads and give serious thought to going just a little tiny bit insane. Ontario’s liberals, not exactly known for being easy on our already taxed–literally–wallets, are up to their usual tricks again. This time, in the name of conservation and green energy programs, they’re instituting a tax on electric bills to the collective tune of $53000000. No, my finger didn’t get stuck on the 0. That’s how much they’re thinking will be pulled in by this new hydro tax. The reason for it?
Ontario electricity customers will soon be slapped with an additional tax to cover $53 million of the Liberal government’s new conservation and green energy programs, the Star has learned.
So, it was Dalton McGuinty’s idea to go all energy conservation on us in the middle of a recession, and now residents of Ontario get the bill. Meanwhile we’re still watching the course of the HST torpedo, which is scheduled to hit both Ontario and BC in July and do I have no idea what to the usual household budget. On top of the fact that someone living on a disability pension budget because multiple dozen attempts to get employed somewhere doesn’t make close to minimum wage–there’s a rant in there for another entry later. And people wonder why I’m not a very big supporter of the natural governing party at the moment.
I get that Ontario’s in a little tiny bit of deep crap financially–I have no idea what the NDP’s motives are federally, beyond their favourite word is “tax” (sorry, “levy”). But this just stinks of wicked cheap. Yes, our government’s in the poor house. So are the voters. This one in particular would love a break. Say, like an equal playing field financially. How ’bout it, Dalton? No, didn’t think so. Thanks for trying, though.