The Rural Voice, 1990-10, Page 121 1
treleaven's
lucknow
feed mill limited
COMPLETE LINE
OF ANIMAL FEED AND
VETERINARY SUPPLIES
HOG — BROILER — LAYER
TURKEY — BEEF — DAIRY
VEAL — FISH — PET FOODS
call
LUCKNOW
519-528-3000
or
1-800-265-3006
8 THE RURAL VOICE
WHITHER
OUR TAX MONEY?
Adrian Vos, from Huron County, has
contributed to The Rural Voice since
its inception in 1975.
Abuse of our (tax) money goes on
unabated and unabashed both on the
federal and on the provincial level. In
the past few months alone we have
read in the daily press that advisor and
friend of the Prime Minister, Pelletier,
was appointed to a newly created post
in Zaire. Not only was this position
non-existent until that appointment,
but the salary that it pays is $13,000
higher than that of Pelletier's new
boss, the ambassador.
This is the same PM who sternly
told John Turner on national TV that
he could have said no to Trudeau's
demand for appointments to cushy
jobs for friends of the Liberals.
All parties robbed us when they
voted themselves an extra expense
payment of $6,000, without the need
to file an expense account. One New
Democrat from British Columbia
defended his support by stating that
the cost of meals on his long trip has
gone up. That is news to any who
travels by air as airplane meals are
included in the fare. In addition, as far
as I know, the MP's expense account
is indexed for inflation.
Our sanctimonious Minister of
Finance, Wilson, considerably inflated
the already outrageously high salary of
the Governor of the Bank of Canada,
Crow, with our money. At the same
time he complained that labour unions
ask too much for their members.
Junkets by our MPs and MPPs to
foreign countries are common and are
not even reported any more. Much of
the information collected can be
obtained by asking the embassy of the
country visited or our embassy in that
country.
At the same time, federal support
for Ontario's corn producers dropped
from $3.32/bushel in 1988 to $2.84
today.
The Ontario Liberals dropped the
farm tax rebate by more than $20
million and conservation spending
from $18.5 million a year to $12.7
million.
Among the most audacious are
many members of the Senate who
attend as few sittings as possible so
they can still collect their stipend.
Federal bureaucrats are now
agreeing with Bob Rae of the New
Democratic Party that the rich
companies don't pull their weight in
paying taxes. Highly paid tax
consultants have found ways to
postpone corporate payments year
after year, according to a federal
government study. The minister
responsible for that honest department
has since denied that such a study
exists.
Part of this phenomenon is our
own fault. We insist that all support
programs should be universal, i.e.,
that, regardless of one's income,
support or subsidies should be the
same. This attitude grew out of the
degrading system in the depression
years of the 1930s when anyone
applying for welfare had to submit to a
means test. This is not necessary any
more as taxable income can be used as
a measure of need. Our own Ontario
Federation of Agriculture helped to
perpetuate this subsidy to the rich
when it managed to change the new
policy of Ontario's treasurer, Nixon,
regarding the tax rebate which he
wanted to limit to bona fide farmers.
The senior citizens of Ontario also
put up a fight when Nixon proposed to
diminish subsidies progressively to
seniors with more than $50,000
income.
The NDP also lives in the past
when it gets collectively red in the
face when "universality" is threatened.
By insisting on subsidies where
they are not needed, we are as guilty
as the politicians mentioned above.
It is time to think for ourselves
instead of following the line of our
political parties and/or tradition.0