Found on: CBC.ca and milliondollarjourney.com

This is completely ridiculous... this much taxes is choking Canadians!!

As a Canadian I enjoy the high standard of living that our country affords. After travelling to a few different countries and seeing documentaries on poor African nations etc. it's not hard to begin to appreciate all of the blessings our country enjoys.

But at what cost?

According to this article: 45% of our money is going to taxes whereas in 1961 35% of our money was going to taxes. That's a 10% increase in taxes over a 46 year period. Where does it stop?!!

SEE: The Canadian Economy in Brief - www.fin.gc.ca
SEE: Canadian Federal Debt and other statistics - canadianeconomy.gc.ca

The government needs our tax dollars to pay for costs of infrastructure, administration, and also to pay down the Canadian national debt.

It is my opinion that the governments should be prudently paying back the debt as they get surplus income. Keep the same services but use surplus money to pay down the debt which according to this Federal Government website is $481,499,000,000 as of 2006

A MUST SEE! Where your tax dollar goes - Canadian Federal Government MultiMedia presentation

There are many people who visit this site who have run on hard times and are getting hounded by collection agencies. I'm curious to know when the "collection agencies" are going to start hounding the federal government to pay down their debts a little?!!

It is not the purpose of this blog to be political, however, it seems that the government can get away with the same kind of spending and debt creation that that would cause criticism with a regular Canadian citizen!

QUESTIONS:

• Wouldn't it be better to have a "debt free" policy where the federal government eventually becomes debt free, and starts to make money on its surplus funds?
  
• Should the Canadian public take on the same spending policies as the federal government and spend ourselves into the ground? (Ooops, maybe we've already done that.)
  
• If the Canadian Federal government paid down it's debt substantially, would that set a good example for the Canadian people?
  

That's the end of my rant!

Comments?

Average Canadian family spends more on taxes than necessities of life: survey

Published: Monday, April 16, 2007 | 8:47 AM ET
Canadian Press

VANCOUVER (CP) - Taxes are taking a bigger chunk out of the average Canadian family income than food, clothing and housing combined, a new survey suggests.

The Fraser Institute says the Canadian Consumer Tax Index is up significantly in the past 45 years.

The average Canadian family earned $63,000 in 2006, with nearly 45 per cent of that going to taxes.

Just over 35 per cent was spent on food, clothing and housing.

In 1961, the institute says just 33.5 per cent of income went to taxes.

The tax index includes direct taxation, such as income taxes, sales taxes, Employment Insurance and Canadian Pension Plan contributions, as well as hidden taxes, such as import duties, gas taxes and excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol.